arXiv subjects

Alexei M. Tsvelik

Publications and source records attributed to Alexei M. Tsvelik.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

CeCo$_2$P$_2$: a unique Co-antiferromagnetic topological heavy-fermion system with $P\cdot T$-protected Kondo effect and nodal-line excitations

Based on high-throughput screening and experimental data, we find that CeCo$_2$P$_2$ is unique in heavy-fermion materials: it has a Kondo effect at a high temperature which is nonetheless below a Co-antiferromagnetic ordering temperature. This begs the question: how is the Kondo singlet formed? \emph{All} other magnetic Kondo materials do not first form magnetism on the atoms whose electrons are supposed to screen the local moments. We theoretically explain these observations and show the multifaceted uniqueness of CeCo$_2$P$_2$: a playground for Kondo, magnetism, flat band, and topological physics. At high temperatures, the itinerant Co $c$ electrons of the system form non-atomic bands with a narrow bandwidth, leading to a high antiferromagnetic transition temperature. We show that the quantum geometry of the bands promotes in-plane ferromagnetism, while the weak dispersion along the $z$ direction facilitates out-of-plane antiferromagnetism. At low temperatures, we uncover a novel phase that manifests the coexistence of Co-antiferromagnetism and the Kondo effect, linked to the $P\cdot T$-protected Kramers' doublets and the filling-enforced metallic nature of $c$ electrons in the antiferromagnetic phase. Subsequently, the emergence of the Kondo effect, in cooperation with glide-mirror-$z$ symmetry, creates nodal-line excitation near the Fermi energy. Our results emphasize the importance of lattice symmetry and quantum geometry, Kondo physics, and magnetism in the understanding of the correlation physics of this unique compound. We also test our theory on the structurally similar compound LaCo$_2$P$_2$ and show how we are able to understand its vastly different phase diagram.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Relevance of Anisotropy in the Kondo Effect: Lessons From the Symplectic Case

A Kondo model with symplectic symmetry was recently put forward as the effective low-energy theory of a superconducting-island device coupled to multiple leads. This model, which possesses non-Fermi liquid physics and effective anyons, was argued to belong to the class of topological Kondo effects. Here, we clarify the extent of stability of its exotic fixed point using perturbative and numerical renormalization group in conjunction with bosonization and conformal field theory. In contrast to previous claims, we show that asymmetry in the coupling to the leads destabilizes the non-Fermi liquid. Other destabilizing perturbations include asymmetry in the superconducting pairing or internal energy of the individual quantum dots in the island. Nevertheless, these perturbations all generate the same relevant operators. Thus, only a small number of couplings need to be tuned individually, and these can be selected according to experimental convenience. Our results highlight a common misconception that anisotropy in single-channel Kondo couplings is always irrelevant. As demonstrated, relevant terms will emerge whenever the group generators do not span the full space of impurity operators. This calls for a more detailed inspection of models that exhibit this property, such as large-spin impurities and SO(M) Kondo models.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Conformally invariant charge fluctuations in a strange metal

The strange metal is a peculiar phase of matter in which the electron scattering rate, $τ^{-1} \sim k_B T/\hbar$, which determines the electrical resistance, is universal across a wide family of materials and determined only by fundamental constants. In 1989, theorists hypothesized that this universality would manifest as scale-invariant behavior in the dynamic charge susceptibility, $χ''(q,ω)$. Here, we present momentum-resolved inelastic electron scattering measurements of the strange metal Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ showing that the susceptibility has the scale-invariant form $χ''(q,ω) = T^{-ν} f(ω/T)$, with exponent $ν= 0.93$. We find the response is consistent with conformal invariance, meaning the dynamics may be thought of as occurring on a circle of radius $1/T$ in imaginary time, characterized by conformal dimension $Δ= 0.05$. Our study indicates that the strange metal is a universal phenomenon whose properties are not determined by microscopic properties of a particular material.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Phase transitions in the presence of fluctuating charge-density wave in two-dimensional film of kagome metals

We determine the nature of a phase transition in a model describing an interaction of multiple charge density waves in a two dimensional film. The model was introduced by two of the authors in Phys. Rev. B {\bf 108}, 045119 (2023) to describe fluctuations in charge density wave order in the kagome metals AV$_3$Sb$_5$ (A=K, Rb, Cs) in two dimensions. The situation is nontrivial since the transition occurs in the region of phase diagram where the unbound vortices compete with the interaction between charge density waves. Here, we study the nature of the phase transition via Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations. The 3-component order parameter, the susceptibility, the energy per site, and the specific heat are measured for a range of temperatures for different lattice sizes $L=8,16,24,32$. The finite size scaling analysis indicates the presence of a second-order transition.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

A mesoscopic device for a realization of the Topological Kondo effect

The search for anyons is a field of immense interest owing to its potential application in the field of quantum information. Quantum critical Kondo impurities constitute one possible platform for their realization and Topological Kondo effect (TKE) by virtue of remaining critical in the presence of perturbations, seems to be especially promising in this regard. In this paper we discuss practical steps for a realization of TKE with a relatively high Kondo temperature $T_K$. Its central feature is the so-called Majorana-Cooper box (MCB) and we argue that a particular type of iron-based topological superconductor is especially suitable for realization of TKE. Once MCB is available one needs to connect it to external metallic leads to produce TKE. A relatively high value of the Kondo temperature $T_K$ is then aided by a large superconducting gap of the iron-based superconductor. We give estimates for $T_K$, for the cases of both isotropic and anisotropic exchange couplings of MCB with the leads.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Topological Quantum Computation on a Chiral Kondo Chain

We describe the chiral Kondo chain model based on the symplectic Kondo effect and demonstrate that it has a quantum critical ground state populated by non-Abelian anyons. We show that the fusion channel of two arbitrary anyons can be detected by locally coupling the two anyons to an extra single channel of chiral current and measuring the corresponding conductance at finite frequency. Based on such measurements, we propose that the chiral Kondo chain model with symplectic symmetry can be used for implementation of measurement-only topological quantum computations, and it possesses a number of distinct features favorable for such applications. The sources and effects of errors in the proposed system are analyzed, and possible material realizations are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Charge-density wave fluctuation driven composite order in the layered Kagome Metals

The newly discovered kagome metals AV$_3$Sb$_5$ (A = K, Rb, Cs) offer an exciting route to study exotic phases arising due to interplay between electronic correlations and topology. Besides superconductivity, these materials exhibit a charge-density wave (CDW) phase occurring at around 100 K, whose origin still remains elusive. The robust multi-component $2 \times 2$ CDW phase in these systems is of great interest due to the presence of an unusually large anomalous Hall effect. In quasi-2D systems with weak inter-layer coupling fluctuation driven exotic phases may appear. In particular in systems with multi-component order parameters fluctuations may lead to establishment of composite order when only products of individual order parameters condense while the individual ones themselves remain disordered. We argue that such fluctuation-driven regime of composite CDW order may exist in thin films of kagome metals above the CDW transition temperature. It is suggested that the melting of the Trihexagonal state in the material doped way from the van Hove singularities gives rise to a pseudogap regime where the spectral weight is concentrated in small pockets and most of the original Fermi surface is gapped. Our findings suggest possible presence of exotic phases in the weakly coupled layered kagome metals, more so in the newly synthesized thin films of kagome metals.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Two types of superconducting pairs in stripe-ordered La$_{2-x}$Ba$_{x}$CuO$_4$ ($x=1/8$): evidence from the resistivity measurements

Recent angle-resolved $c$-axis resistivity measurements of the stripe-ordered La$_{2-x}$Ba$_x$CuO$_4$ (LBCO) with $x=1/8$ revealed an unexpected dependence on the direction of the in-plane magnetic field. We argue that these and other available data for the $c$-axis transport point to the existence of superconducting pairs of two different types in the $x=1/8$ LBCO below the stripe ordering temperature. The pairs of one type carry finite momentum and are confined to the Cu-O planes; the pairs of other type (probably the conventional $d$-wave with zero momentum) propagate along narrow conducting channels traversing the sample in the $c$-axis direction. The evidence for this comes from the observed exponential temperature dependence of the $c$-axis resistivity $ρ_c(T)$ which we attribute to the thermally excited slips of the superconducting phase and flux flows. We present a simple theory to fit the observed $π/2$-periodic dependence of $ρ_c$ on the direction of the in-plane magnetic field and the other data.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Kondo Lattice Model of Magic-Angle Twisted-Bilayer Graphene: Hund's Rule, Local-Moment Fluctuations, and Low-Energy Effective Theory

We apply a generalized Schrieffer-Wolff transformation to the extended Anderson-like topological heavy fermion (THF) model for the magic-angle $(θ=1.05^{\circ})$ twisted bilayer graphene (MATBLG) (Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 047601 (2022)), to obtain its Kondo Lattice limit. In this limit localized $f$-electrons on a triangular lattice interact with topological conduction $c$-electrons. By solving the exact limit of the THF model, we show that the integer fillings $ν=0, \pm 1, \pm 2$ are controlled by the heavy $f$-electrons, while $ν= \pm 3$ is at the border of a phase transition between two $f$-electron fillings. For $ν=0, \pm 1, \pm 2$, we then calculate the RKKY interactions between the $f$-moments in the full model and analytically prove the SU(4) Hund's rule for the ground state which maintains that two $f$-electrons fill the same valley-spin flavor. Our (ferromagnetic interactions in the) spin model dramatically differ from the usual Heisenberg antiferromagnetic interactions expected at strong coupling. We show the ground state in some limits can be found exactly by employing a positive semidefinite "bond-operators" method. We then compute the excitation spectrum of the $f$-moments in the ordered ground state, prove the stability of the ground state favored by RKKY interactions, and discuss the properties of the Goldstone modes, the (reason for the accidental) degeneracy of (some of) the excitation modes, and the physics of their phase stiffness. We develop a low-energy effective theory for the $f$-moments and obtain analytic expressions for the dispersion of the collective modes. We discuss the relevance of our results to the spin-entropy experiments in twisted bilayer graphene.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Exact solution of the topological symplectic Kondo problem

The Kondo effect is an archetypical phenomenon in the physics of strongly correlated electron systems. Recent attention has focused on the application of Kondo physics to quantum information science by exploiting overscreened Kondo impurities with residual anyon-like impurity entropy. While this physics was proposed in the fine-tuned multi-channel Kondo setup or in the Majorana-based topological Kondo effect, we here study the Kondo effect with symplectic symmetry Sp(2k) and present details about the implementation which importantly only involves conventional s-wave superconductivity coupled to an array of resonant levels and neither requires perfect channel symmetry nor Majorana fermions. We carefully discuss the role of perturbations and show that a global Zeeman drives the system to a 2-channel SU(k) fixed point. Exact results for the residual entropy, specific heat, and magnetization are derived using the thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz for Sp(2k). This solution not only proves the existence of a quantum critical ground state with anyon-like Hilbert space dimension but also a particularly weak non-Fermi liquid behavior at criticality. We interpret the weakness of non-analyticities as a manifestation of suppressed density of states at the impurity causing only a very weak connection of putative anyons and conduction electrons. Given this weak connection, the simplicity of the design, and the stability of the effect, we conjecture that the symplectic Kondo effect may be particularly suitable for quantum information applications.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Soluble limit and criticality of fermions in Z2 gauge theories

Quantum information theory and strongly correlated electron systems share a common theme of macroscopic quantum entanglement. In both topological error correction codes and theories of quantum materials (spin liquid, heavy fermion and high-$T_c$ systems) entanglement is implemented by means of an emergent gauge symmetry. Inspired by these connections, we introduce a simple model for fermions moving in the deconfined phase of a $\mathbb Z_2$ gauge theory, by coupling Kitaev's toric code to mobile fermions. This permits us to exactly solve the ground state of this system and map out its phase diagram. Reversing the sign of the plaquette term in the toric code, permits us to tune the groundstate between an orthogonal metal and an orthogonal semimetal, in which gapless quasiparticles survive despite a gap in the spectrum of original fermions. The small-to-large Fermi surface transition between these two states occurs in a stepwise fashion with multiple intermediate phases. By using a novel diagrammatic technique we are able to explore physics beyond the integrable point, to examine various instabilities of the deconfined phase and to derive the critical theory at the transition between deconfined and confined phases. We outline how the fermionic toric code can be implemented as a quantum circuit thus providing an important link between quantum materials and quantum information theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Order Fractionalization in a Kitaev-Kondo model

We describe a mechanism for order fractionalization in a two-dimensional Kondo lattice model, in which electrons interact with a gapless spin liquid of Majorana fermions described by the Yao-Lee (YL) model. When the Kondo coupling to the conduction electrons exceeds a critical value, the model develops a superconducting instability into a state where the spinor order parameter carries charge $e$ and spin $S=1/2$. The broken symmetry state develops a gapless Majorana Dirac cone in the bulk. By including an appropriate gauge string, we can show that the charge $e$, spinorial order develops off-diagonal long range order that allows electrons to coherently tunnel arbitrarily long distances through the spin liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

A pedagagical introduction to the Lifshitz regime

We give an elementary and pedagogical review of the phase diagrams which are possible in Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD). Currently, the emphasis is upon the appearance of a critical endpoint, where disordered and ordered phases meet. In many models, though, a Lifshitz point also arises. At a Lifshitz point, three phases meet: disordered, ordered, and one where spatially inhomogeneous phases arise. At the level of mean field theory, the appearance of a Lifshitz point does not dramatically affect the phase diagram. We argue, however, that fluctuations about the Lifshitz point are very strong in the infrared, and significantly alter the phase diagram. We discuss at length the analogy to inhomogenous polymers, where the Lifshitz regime produces a bicontinuous microemulsion. We briefly mention the possible relevance to the phase diagram of QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Low energy physics of interacting bosons with a moat spectrum, and the implications for condensed matter and cold nuclear matter

We discuss bosonic models with a moat spectrum, where in momentum space the minimum of the dispersion relation is on a sphere of nonzero radius. For spinless bosons with $O(N)$ symmetry, we emphasize the essential difference between $N=2$ and $N > 2$. When $N=2$, there are two phase transitions: at zero temperature, a transition to a state with Bose condensation, and at nonzero temperature, a transition to a spatially inhomogeneous state. When $N > 2$, previous analysis suggests that a mass gap is generated dynamically at any temperature. In condensed matter, a moat spectrum is important for spin-orbit-coupled bosons. For cold nuclear or quarkyonic matter, we suggest that the transport properties, such as neutrino emission, are dominated by the phonons related to a moat spectrum; also, that at least in the quarkyonic phase the nucleons may be a non-Fermi liquid.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2022

Nuclear matter in 1+1 dimensions

We review the solution of QCD in two spacetime dimensions. Following the analysis of Baluni, for a single flavor the model can be analyzed using Abelian bosonization. The theory can be analyzed in strong coupling, when the quarks are much lighter than the gauge coupling. In this limit, the theory is given by a Luttinger liquid.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

When cold, dense quarks in 1+1 and 3+1 dimensions are not a Fermi liquid

We analyze the behavior of quarks coupled to a $SU(N_c)$ gauge theory in 1+1 dimensions. In the limit of strong coupling, the model reduces to a Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten (WZNW) model. At nonzero density, excitations near the Fermi surface form a non-Fermi liquid. With $N_f$ flavors, the finite density of quarks reduce to a free $U(1)$ field, which governs fluctuations in baryon number, together with a WZNW $SU(N_f)$ nonlinear sigma model at level $N_c$, from the pion/kaon modes. We compute the singularity in the charge susceptibility at the Fermi surface and the attendant power law correlations. We suggest that this is relevant to the quarkyonic regime of cold, dense QCD in 3+1 dimensions, in the limit that the Fermi surface is covered by many small patches, and the theory is effectively one dimensional. In this regime the dominant excitations near the Fermi surface are not baryons, but gapless bosonic modes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Dimerization and spin-decoupling in two-leg Heisenberg ladder with frustrated trimer rungs

We study the antiferromagnetic spin-half Heisenberg ladder in the presence of an additional frustrating rung spin which is motivated and relevant also for the description of real two-dimensional materials such as the two-dimensional trimer magnet Ba$_4$Ir$_3$O$_{10}$. We study the zero-temperature phase diagram, where we combine numerical and analytical methods into an overall consistent description. All numerical simulations are also accompanied by studies of the dynamical spin structure factor obtained via the density matrix renormalization group. Overall, we find in the regime of strong rung coupling a gapped dimerized phase related to competing symmetry sectors in Hilbert space that ultimately results in frustration-driven spin-Peierls transition. In the weak rung-coupling regime, the system is uniform, yet shows a gapped spinon continuum together with a sharp coherent low-energy branch which renders the system critical overall. In either case, the additional rung spin quickly get sidelined and nearly decouple once their bare coupling to the ladder drops somewhat below the direct Heisenberg coupling of the legs.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Chiral topologically ordered insulating phases in arrays of interacting integer quantum Hall islands

We study networks of Coulomb-blockaded integer quantum Hall islands with even fillings $ν=2k$ ($k$ being an integer), including cases with $2k$ layers each of $ν=1$ fillings. Allowing only spin-current interactions between the islands (i.e., without any charge transfer), we obtain solvable models leading to a rich set of insulating $SU(2)_k$ topologically ordered phases. The case with $k=1$ is dual to the Kalmeyer-Laughlin phase, $k=2$ to Kitaev's chiral spin liquid and the Moore-Read state, and $k=3$ contains a Fibonacci anyon that may be utilized for universal topological quantum computation. Additionally, we show how the $SU(2)_k$ topological phases may be obtained also in an array of islands with $ν=2k$ integer quantum Hall states and critical spin chains in a checkerboard pattern. The array and checkerboard constructions gap out the charge mode and additional "flavor" modes by virtue of their geometry. Furthermore, we find that a fine tuning of the system parameter is not needed in the checkerboard configuration and the $ν=2$ case. We also discuss their bulk excitations, and show that their thermal Hall conductance is universal, reflecting the central charge $c=3k/(k+2)$ of the chiral edge modes.

cond-mat.str-el↗