arXiv subjects

Andrey V. Chubukov

Publications and source records attributed to Andrey V. Chubukov.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Quantum Phase Transition in the Yukawa-SYK Model

We study the quantum phase transition upon variation of the fermionic density $ν$ in a solvable model with random Yukawa interactions between $N$ bosons and $M$ fermions, dubbed the Yukawa-SYK model. We show that there are two distinct phases in the model: an incompressible state with gapped excitations and an exotic quantum-critical, non-Fermi liquid state with exponents varying with $ν$. We show analytically and numerically that the quantum phase transition between these two states is first-order, as for some range of $ν$ the NFL state has a negative compressibility. In the limit $N/M\to \infty$ the first-order transition gets weaker and asymptotically becomes second-order, with an exotic quantum-critical behavior. We show that fermions and bosons display highly unconventional spectral behavior in the transition region.

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arXiv2020

Thermodynamic signatures of an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point inside a superconducting dome

Recent experiments in unconventional superconductors, and in particular iron-based materials, have reported evidence of an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (AFM-QCP) emerging inside the superconducting dome of the phase diagram. Fluctuations associated with such an AFM-QCP are expected to promote unusual temperature dependencies of thermodynamic quantities. Here, we compute the $T$ dependence of the specific heat $C(T)$ deep inside a fully gapped $s^{+-}$ superconducting state as the AFM-QCP is approached. We find that, at the AFM-QCP, the specific heat $C(T)$ vanishes quadratically with temperature, as opposed to the typical exponential suppression seen in fully-gapped BCS superconductors. This robust result is due to a non-analytic contribution to the free-energy arising from the general form of the bosonic (AFM) propagator in the SC state. Away from the AFM-QCP, as temperature is lowered, $C(T)$ shows a crossover from a $T^2$ behavior to an exponential behavior, with the crossover temperature scale set by the value of the superconducting gap and the distance to the QCP. We argue that these features in the specific heat can be used to unambiguously determine the existence of AFM-QCPs inside the superconducting domes of iron-based and other fully gapped unconventional superconductors.

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arXiv2020

Nematic superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene

Twisted bilayer graphene displays insulating and superconducting phases caused by exceptional flattening of its lowest energy bands. Superconductivity with highest $T_c$ appears at hole and electron dopings, near half-filling for valence or conduction bands. In the hole-doped case, the data show that three-fold lattice rotation symmetry is broken in the superconducting phase, i.e., a superconductor is also a nematic. We present the mechanism for nematic superconductivity. We take as an input the fact that at relevant dopings the Fermi energy lies in the vicinity of twist-induced Van Hove singularities in the density of states and argue that the low-energy physics can be properly described by patch models with six Van Hove points for electron doping and twelve Van Hove points for hole doping. We obtain pairing interactions for the patch models in terms of parameters of the microscopic model for the flat bands, which contains both local and twist-induced non-local interactions and show that the latter gives rise to attraction in different superconducting channels. For hole-doping, we find two attractive channels, $g$ and $i$-waves, with almost equal coupling constants. We show that in the co-existence state, where both order parameters are non-zero, the three-fold lattice rotation symmetry is broken, i.e., a superconductor is also a nematic. We find two possible nematic states, one is time-reversal symmetric, the other additionally breaks time-reversal symmetry. Our scenario for nematic superconductivity is based on generic symmetry considerations, and we expect it to be applicable also to other systems with two (or more) attractive channels with similar couplings.

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arXiv2020

Competing orders at higher-order Van Hove points

Van Hove points are special points in the energy dispersion, where the density of states exhibits analytic singularities. When a Van Hove point is close to the Fermi level, tendencies towards density wave orders, Pomeranchuk orders, and superconductivity can all be enhanced, often in more than one channel, leading to a competition between different orders and unconventional ground states. Here we consider the effects from higher-order Van Hove points, around which the dispersion is flatter than near a conventional Van Hove point, and the density of states has a power-law divergence. We argue that such points are present in intercalated graphene and other materials. We use an effective low-energy model for electrons near higher-order Van Hove points and analyze the competition between different ordering tendencies using an unbiased renormalization group approach. For purely repulsive interactions, we find that two key competitors are ferromagnetism and chiral superconductivity. For a small attractive exchange interaction, we find a new type of spin Pomeranchuk order, in which the spin order parameter winds around the Fermi surface. The supermetal state, predicted for a single higher-order Van Hove point, is an unstable fixed point in our case.

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arXiv2020

Eliashberg theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity -- when it is valid and how it breaks down

We analyze the validity of Eliashberg theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity in 2D systems in light of recent extensive Monte-Carlo studies of the Holstein model. Conventional wisdom says that Eliashberg theory is applicable as long as vertex corrections remain small. For small ratio of the phonon energy $Ω_0$ and the Fermi energy $E_F$, this condition is supposed to hold even when the dimensionless electron-phonon coupling $λ$ is larger than one, i.e., in the strong coupling regime. A comparison between various quantities computed in the Migdal approximation and those computed by Quantum Monte Carlo prove that this belief is wrong, and we identify analytically some of the ways in which this breakdown occurs for various "normal state" properties at $λ= λ_{cr}$, where $λ_{cr} = O(1)$. The breakdown occurs at temperatures high enough that neither superconducting nor charge-density wave correlations extend over any significant range of distances, so it cannot be associated with the onset of an instability toward any of the relevant ordered ground-states - rather it is associated with the local physics of classical bipolaron formation. Still, we show that certain properties, including the superconducting $T_c$ and the superconducting gap structure below $T_c$, can be accurately inferred from the strong-coupling limit of Eliashberg theory at $λ\leq λ_{cr}$.

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arXiv2020

Normal state properties of quantum critical metals at finite temperature

We study the effects of finite temperature on normal state properties of a metal near a quantum critical point to an antiferromagnetic or Ising-nematic state. At $T = 0$ bosonic and fermionic self-energies are traditionally computed within Eliashberg theory and obey scaling relations with characteristic power-laws. Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations have shown strong systematic deviations from these predictions, casting doubt on the validity of the theoretical analysis. We extend Eliashberg theory to finite $T$ and argue that for the $T$ range accessible in the QMC simulations, the scaling forms for both fermionic and bosonic self energies are quite different from those at $T = 0$. We compare finite $T$ results with QMC data and find good agreement for both systems. This, we argue, resolves the key apparent contradiction between the theory and the QMC simulations.

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arXiv2020

The pairing glue in cuprate superconductors from the self-energy revealed via machine learning

Recently, machine learning was applied to extract both the normal and the anomalous components of the self-energy from photoemission data at the antinodal points in Bi-based cuprate high-temperature superconductors [Y. Yamaji {\it et al.}, arXiv:1903.08060]. It was argued that both components do show prominent peaks near 50 meV, which hold information about the pairing glue, but the peaks are hidden in the actual data, which measure only the total self-energy. We analyze the self-energy within an effective fermion-boson theory. We show that soft thermal fluctuations give rise to peaks in both components of the self-energy at a frequency comparable to superconducting gap, while they cancel in the total self-energy; all irrespective of the nature of the pairing boson. However, in the quantum limit $T \to 0$ prominent peaks survive only for a very restricted subclass of pairing interactions. We argue that the way to potentially nail down the pairing boson is to determine the thermal evolution of the peaks.

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arXiv2020

Orbital transmutation and the electronic spectrum of FeSe in the nematic phase

We consider the electronic spectrum near $M=(π,π)$ in the nematic phase of FeSe ($T T_{\rm nem}$, in apparent contradiction to the fact that in the tetragonal phase the $xz$ and $yz$ orbitals are degenerate. Here we present two scenarios which can describe the data. In both scenarios, hybridization terms present in the tetragonal phase leads to an orbital transmutation, a change in the dominant orbital character of some of the bands, between $T > T_{\rm nem}$ and $T \ll T_{\rm nem}$. The first scenario relies on the spin-orbit coupling at the $M$ point. We show that a finite spin-orbit coupling gives rise to orbital transmutation, in which one of the modes, identified as $xz$ ($yz)$ at $T \ll T_{\rm nem}$, becomes predominantly $xy$ at $T > T_{\rm nem}$ and hence does not merge with the predominantly $yz$ ($xz$) mode. The second scenario, complementary to the first, takes into consideration the fact that both ARPES and STM are surface probes. In the bulk, a direct hybridization between the $xz$ and $yz$ orbitals is not allowed at the $M$ point, however, it is permitted on the surface. In the presence of a direct $xz/yz$ hybridization, the orbital character of the $xz/yz$ modes changes from pure $xz$ and pure $yz$ at $T \ll T_{\rm nem}$ to $xz \pm yz$ at $T > T_{\rm nem}$, i.e., the two modes again have mono-orbital character at low $T$, but do not merge at $T_{\rm nem}$. We discuss how these scenarios can be distinguished in polarized ARPES experiments.

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arXiv2019

Hidden and mirage collective modes in two dimensional Fermi liquids

We show that a two-dimensional (2D) isotropic Fermi liquid harbors two new types of collective modes, driven by quantum fluctuations, in addition to conventional zero sound: "hidden" and "mirage" modes. The hidden modes occur for relatively weak attractive interaction both in the charge and spin channels with any angular momentum $l$. Instead of being conventional damped resonances within the particle-hole continuum, the hidden modes propagate at velocities larger than the Fermi velocity and have infinitesimally small damping in the clean limit, but are invisible to spectroscopic probes. The mirage modes are also propagating modes outside the particle-hole continuum that occur for sufficiently strong repulsion interaction in channels with $l\geq 1$. They do give rise to peaks in spectroscopic probes, but are not true poles of the dynamical susceptibility. We argue that both hidden and mirage modes occur due to a non-trivial topological structure of the Riemann surface, defined by the dynamical susceptibility. The hidden modes reside below a branch cut that glues two sheets of the Riemann surface, while the mirage modes reside on an unphysical sheet of the Riemann surface. We show that both types of modes give rise to distinct features in time dynamics of a 2D Fermi liquid that can be measured in pump-probe experiments.

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arXiv2019

The interplay between superconductivity and non-Fermi liquid at a quantum-critical point in a metal

Near a quantum-critical point, a metal reveals two competing tendencies: destruction of fermionic coherence and attraction in one or more pairing channels. We analyze the competition within Eliashberg theory for a class of quantum-critical models with an effective dynamical electron-electron interaction $V(Ω_m) \propto 1/|Ω_m|^γ$ (the $γ$-model) for $0 < γ<1$. We argue that the two tendencies are comparable in strength, yet the one towards pairing is stronger, and the ground state is a superconductor. We show, however, that there exist two distinct regimes of system behavior below the onset temperature of the pairing $T_p$. In the range $T_{cr} < T < T_p$ fermions remain incoherent and the density of states $N(ω)$ displays "gap filling" behavior in which the position of the maximum in $N(ω)$ is set by temperature rather than the pairing gap. At lower $T < T_{cr}$, fermions acquire coherence, and $N(ω)$ displays a conventional "gap closing" behavior. We argue that the existence of the two regimes comes about because of special behavior of fermions with frequencies $ω= \pm πT$ along the Matsubara axis. Specifically, for these fermions, the component of the self-energy, which competes with the pairing, vanishes in the normal state. We further argue that the crossover at $T \sim T_{cr}$ comes about because Eliashberg equations allow an infinite number of topologically distinct solutions for the onset temperature of the pairing within the same gap symmetry. Only one solution, with the highest $T_p$, actually emerges, but other solutions are generated and modify the form of the gap function at $T \leq T_{cr}$. Finally, we argue that the actual $T_c$ is comparable to $T_{cr}$, while at $T_{cr} < T < T_{p}$ phase fluctuations destroy superconducting long-range order, and the system displays pseudogap behavior.

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arXiv2019

Raman response in the nematic phase of FeSe

Raman experiments on bulk FeSe revealed that the low-frequency part of $B_{1g}$ Raman response $R_{B_{1g}}$, which probes nematic fluctuations, rapidly decreases below the nematic transition at $T_n \sim 85$K. Such behavior is usually associated with the gap opening and at a first glance is inconsistent with the fact that FeSe remains a metal below $T_n$, with sizable hole and electron pockets. We argue that the drop of $R_{B_{1g}}$ in a nematic metal comes about because the nematic order drastically changes the orbital content of the pockets and makes them nearly mono-orbital. In this situation $B_{1g}$ Raman response gets reduced by the same vertex corrections that enforce charge conservation. The reduction holds at low frequencies and gives rise to gap-like behavior of $R_{B_{1g}}$, in full agreement with the experimental data.

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arXiv2019

Collective modes near a Pomeranchuk instability

We consider collective excitations of a Fermi liquid. For each value of the angular momentum $l$, we study the evolution of longitudinal and transverse collective modes in the charge (c) and spin (s) channels with the Landau parameter $F_l^{c(s)}$, starting from positive $F_l^{c(s)}$ and all the way to the Pomeranchuk transition at $F_l^{c(s)} = -1$. In each case, we identify a critical zero-sound mode, whose velocity vanishes at the Pomeranchuk instability. For $F_l^{c(s)} < -1$, this mode is located in the upper frequency half-plane, which signals an instability of the ground state. In a clean Fermi liquid the critical mode may be either purely relaxational or almost propagating, depending on the parity of $l$ and on whether the response function is longitudinal or transverse. These differences lead to qualitatively different types of time evolution of the order parameter following an initial perturbation. A special situation occurs for the $l = 1$ order parameter that coincides with the spin or charge current. In this case the residue of the critical mode vanishes at the Pomeranchuk transition. However, the critical mode can be identified at any distance from the transition, and is still located in the upper frequency half-plane for $F_1^{c(s)} < -1$. The only peculiarity of the charge/spin current order parameter is that its time evolution occurs on longer scales than for other order parameters. We also analyze collective modes away from the critical point, and find that the modes evolve with $F_l^{c(s)}$ on a multi-sheet Riemann surface. For certain intervals of $F_l^{c(s)}$, the modes either move to an unphysical Riemann sheet or stay on the physical sheet but away from the real frequency axis. In that case, the modes do not give rise to peaks in the imaginary parts of the corresponding susceptiblities.

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arXiv2019

The Hubbard model on a triangular lattice -- pseudogap due to spin-density-wave fluctuations

We calculate the fermionic spectral function $A_k (ω)$ in the spiral spin-density-wave (SDW) state of the Hubbard model on a quasi-2D triangular lattice at small but finite temperature $T$. The spiral SDW order $Δ(T)$ develops below $T = T_N$ and has momentum ${ \bf K} = (4π/3,0)$. We pay special attention to fermions with momenta ${\bf k}$, for which ${\bf k}$ and ${\bf k} + {\bf K}$ are close to Fermi surface in the absence of SDW. At the mean field level, $A_k (ω)$ for such fermions has peaks at $ω= \pm Δ(T)$ at $T < T_N$ and displays a conventional Fermi liquid behavior at $T > T_N$. We show that this behavior changes qualitatively beyond mean-field due to singular self-energy contributions from thermal fluctuations in a quasi-2D system. We use a non-perturbative eikonal approach and sum up infinite series of thermal self-energy terms. We show that $A_k (ω)$ shows peak/dip/hump features at $T < T_N$, with the peak position at $Δ(T)$ and hump position at $Δ(T=0)$. Above $T_N$, the hump survives up to $T = T_p > T_N$, and in between $T_N$ and $T_p$ the spectral function displays the pseudogap behavior. We show that the difference between $T_p$ and $T_N$ is controlled by the ratio of in-plane and out-of-plane static spin susceptibilities, which determines the combinatoric factors in the diagrammatic series for the self-energy. For certain values of this ratio, $T_p = T_N$, i.e., the pseudogap region collapses. In this last case, thermal fluctuations are logarithmically singular, yet they do not give rise to pseudogap behavior. Our computational method can be used to study pseudogap physics due to thermal fluctuations in other systems.

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arXiv2019

Dynamic properties of superconductors: Anderson-Bogoliubov mode and Berry phase in BCS and BEC regimes

We analyze the evolution of the dynamics of a neutral s-wave superconductor between BCS and BEC regimes. We consider 2d case, when BCS-BEC crossover occurs already at weak coupling as a function of the ratio of the two scales -- the Fermi energy $E_F$ and the bound state energy for two fermions in a vacuum, $E_0$. BCS and BEC limits correspond to $E_F \gg E_0$ and $E_F \ll E_0$, respectively. The chemical potential $μ= E_F-E_0$ changes the sign between the two regimes. We develop an approach to derive the leading terms in the expansion of the effective action in the spatial and time derivative of the slowly varying superconducting order parameter $Δ(r, τ)$, and express the action in terms of derivatives of the phase $ϕ(r,τ)$ of $Δ(r, τ) = Δe^{iϕ(r, τ)}$. In the long wavelength limit the second gradients $(\nabla ϕ)^2$ and ${\dot ϕ}^2$, describe Bogoliubov-Anderson mode, which, as we find, does not change through BCS-BEC crossover. The effective action also contains first order gradient term, $i πA {\dot ϕ}$, which is meaningful only if $ϕ$ contains topological defects, such as vortices. We apply our approach to evaluate coefficient $A$ for a moving vortex. We find that $A_{vort}$ has two contributions, $A_{vort}= A_{vort,1} - A_{vort,2}$. One comes from the states away from the vortex core and has $A_{vort,1} = n/2$, where $n$ is the fermion density. The other comes from electronic states inside the vortex core and has $A_{vort,2} = -n_0/2$, where $n_0$ is the fermion density at the vortex core. We interpret this term as the reaction force of normal electrons to the vortex displacement in the limit when the spacing between energy levels is set to zero. The difference $(n-n_0)/2$ changes through the BEC-BCS crossover as $n_0$ nearly compensates $n$ in the BCS regime, but vanishes in the BEC regime.

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arXiv2019

Phonon mediated superconductivity in low carrier-density systems

Motivated by the observation of superconductivity in SrTiO$_3$ and Bi, we analyze phonon-mediated superconductivity in three-dimensional systems at low carrier density, when the chemical potential $μ$ (equal to Fermi energy at $T=0$) is comparable to or even smaller than the characteristic phonon frequency $ω_L$. We consider the attractive part of the Bardeen-Pines pairing interaction, in which the frequency-dependent electron-phonon interaction is dressed by the Coulomb potential. This dressing endows the pairing interaction with momentum dependence. We argue that the conventional Migdal-Eliashberg (ME) approximation becomes invalid when $μ\leq ω_L$ chiefly because the dominant contribution to pairing comes from electronic states away from the Fermi surface. We obtain the pairing onset temperature, which is equal to $T_c$ in the absence of phase fluctuations, as a function of $μ/ω_L$. We find both analytically and numerically that $T_c$ increases as the ratio $μ/ω_L$ becomes smaller. In particular, in the dilute regime, $μ\rightarrow 0$, it holds that $T_c\proptoω_L\left(\frac{Ry}{ω_L}\right)^η$, where $\text{Ry}$ is the Rydberg constant and $η\sim 0.2$.

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arXiv2019

Specific heat in strongly hole-doped Iron-based superconductors

We compute the specific heat $C(T)$ in an Fe-based superconductor with only hole pockets. We use a three-orbital/three pocket model with two smaller hole pockets made out of $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals and a larger pocket made out of $d_{xy}$ orbital. We use as an input the experimental fact that the mass of $d_{xy}$ fermion is much heavier than that of $d_{xz}/d_{yz}$ fermions. We argue that the heavy $d_{xy}$ band contributes most to the specific heat in the normal state, but the superconducting gap on the $d_{xy}$ pocket is parametrically smaller than that on $d_{xz}/d_{yz}$ pockets. We argue that in this situation the jump of $C(T)$ at $T_c$ is determined by $d_{xz}/d_{yz}$ fermions, and the ratio $(C_s-C_n)/C_n$ is a fraction of that in a one-band BCS theory. Below $T_c$, $C(T)$ remains relatively flat down to some $T^*$, below which $C(T)$ rapidly drops. This behavior is consistent with the data for KFe$_2$As$_2$ and related materials. We argue that the data on $C(T)$ can be reproduced without assuming that the quasiparticle residue $Z$ on $d_{xy}$ band is small. We further argue that the very existence of a finite $T^* < T_c$ favors $s^{+-}$ gap structure over $d-$wave, because in the latter case $T^*$ would vanish.

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arXiv2018

The special role of the first Matsubara frequency for superconductivity near a quantum-critical point -- the non-linear gap equation below $T_c$ and spectral properties in real frequencies

Near a quantum-critical point in a metal a strong fermion-fermion interaction, mediated by a soft boson, destroys fermionic coherence and also gives rise to superconductivity. In a class of large $N$ models, one would naively expect an incoherent (non-Fermi liquid) normal state behavior to persist down to $T=0$. However, this is not the case for quantum-critical systems described by Eliashberg theory, where non-Fermi liquid part of the self-energy $Σ(ω_m)$ is large for a generic Matsubara frequency $ω_m = πT(2m+1)$, but vanishes at $ω_m = \pm πT$, while the pairing interaction between fermions with these two frequencies remains strong. This peculiarity gives rise to a non-zero $T_c$ even at large $N$[Y. Wang et al PRL 117, 157001 (2016)]. We consider the system behavior below $T_c$ and contrast the two cases when $ω_m = \pm πT$ are either special or not. We obtain the solution of the non-linear gap equations in real frequency axis and obtain the spectral function $A(ω)$ and the density of states $N(ω)$. In a conventional BCS-type superconductor $A(ω)$ and $N(ω)$ are peaked at the gap value $Δ(T)$, and the peak position shifts to a smaller $ω$ as temperature increases, i.e. the gap "closes in". However when superconductivity is induced by fermions with $ω_m = \pm πT$, the peak in $N(ω)$ remains at a finite frequency even at $T =T_c-0$, the gap just "fills in". The spectral function $A(ω)$ either shows almost the same "gap filling" behavior, or its peak position shifts to zero frequency already at a finite $Δ$ ("emergent Fermi arc" behavior), depending on the strength of the thermal contribution. We compare our results with the data for the cuprates and argue that "gap filling" behavior holds in the antinodal region, while the "emergent Fermi arc" behavior holds in the nodal region.

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arXiv2018

Superconductivity above a quantum critical point in a metal -- gap closing vs gap filling, Fermi arcs, and pseudogap behavior

We consider a quantum-critical metal with interaction mediated by fluctuations of a critical order parameter. This interaction gives rise to two competing tendencies -- pairing and non-Fermi liquid behavior. Due to competition, the pairing develops below a finite $T_p $, however its prominent feedback on the fermionic self-energy develops only at a lower $ T_{cross}$. At $T<T_{cross}$ the system behavior is similar to that of a BCS supercoductor -- the density of states (DOS) and the spectral function (SF) have sharp gaps which close as $T$ increases. At higher $T_{cross}<T<T_{p}$ the DOS has a dip, which {\it fills in} with increasing $T$. The SF in this region shows either the same behavior as the DOS, or has a peak at $ω=0$ (the Fermi arc), depending on the position on the Fermi surface. We argue that phase fluctuations are strong in this $T$ range, and the actual $T_c \sim T_{cross}$, while $T_p$ marks the onset of pseugogap behavior. We compare our theory with the behavior of optimally doped cuprates.

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