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C. Pépin

Publications and source records attributed to C. Pépin.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2013

Pseudogap state from quantum criticality

Upon application of an external tuning parameter, a magnetic state can be driven to a normal metal state at zero temperature. This phenomenon is known as quantum criticality and leads to fascinating responses in thermodynamics and transport of the compound. In the standard picture, a single quantum critical point occurs at zero temperature, which results in a nontrivial critical behaviour in its vicinity. Here we show that in two dimensions the scenario is considerably more complex due to the enormous amount of quantum fluctuations. Instead of the single point separating the antiferromagnet from the normal metal, we have discovered a broad region between these two phases where the magnetic order is destroyed but certain areas of the Fermi surface are closed by a large gap. This gap reflects the formation of a novel quantum state characterised by a superposition of d-wave superconductivity and a quadrupole-density wave, id est a state in which an electron quadrupole density spatially oscillates with a period drastically different from the one of the original spin-density wave. At moderate temperatures both orders co-exist at short distances but thermal fluctuations destroy the long-range order. Below a critical temperature the fluctuations are less essential and superconductivity becomes stable. This new phenomenon may shed some light on the origin of the mysterious pseudogap state and of the high-temperature transition into the superconducting state in cuprates. Our results demonstrate that quantum phase transitions between antiferromagnets and normal metals in layered materials may be the proper playground for search of new high temperature superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Equivalence of single-particle and transport lifetimes from hybridization fluctuations

Single band theories of quantum criticality successfully describe a single-particle lifetime with non-Fermi liquid temperature dependence. But, they fail to obtain a charge transport rate with the same dependence unless the interaction is assumed to be momentum independent. Here we demonstrate that a quantum critical material, with a long range mode that transmutes electrons between light and heavy bands, exhibits a quasi-linear temperature dependence for {\it both} the single-particle and the charge transport lifetimes, despite the strong momentum dependence of the interaction.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Low energy excitations and singular contributions in the thermodynamics of clean Fermi liquids

Using a recently suggested method of bosonization in an arbitrary dimension, we study the anomalous contribution of the low energy spin and charge excitations to thermodynamic quantities of a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi liquid. The method is slightly modified for the present purpose such that the effective supersymmetric action no longer contains the high energy degrees of freedom but still accounts for effects of the finite curvature of the Fermi surface. Calculating the anomalous contribution $δc(T)$ to the specific heat, we show that the leading logarithmic in temperature corrections to $δc(T)/T^2$ can be obtained in a scheme combining a summation of ladder diagrams and renormalization group equations. The final result is represented as the sum of two separate terms that can be interpreted as coming from singlet and triplet superconducting excitations. The latter may diverge in certain regions of the coupling constants, which should correspond to the formation of triplet Cooper pairs.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2011

Preformed heavy-electrons at the Quantum Critical Point in heavy fermion compounds

The existence of multiple energy scales is regarded as a signature of the Kondo breakdown mechanism for explaining the quantum critical behavior of certain heavy fermion compounds, like YbRh$_{2}$Si$_{2}$. The nature of the intermediate state between the heavy Fermi liquid and the quantum critical region, however, remains elusive. In this study we suggest an incoherent heavy-fermion scenario, where inelastic scattering with novel soft modes of the dynamical exponent $z = 3$ gives rise to non-Fermi liquid physics for thermodynamics and transport despite the formation of the heavy-fermion band. We discuss a crossover from $z = 3$ to $z = 1$ for quantum phase fluctuations.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2011

Luttinger-Ward functional approach in the Eliashberg framework : A systematic derivation of scaling for thermodynamics near a quantum critical point

Scaling expressions for the free energy are derived, using the Luttinger-Ward (LW) functional approach in the Eliashberg framework, for two different models of quantum critical point (QCP). First, we consider the spin-density-wave (SDW) model for which the effective theory is the Hertz-Moriya-Millis (HMM) theory, describing the interaction between itinerant electrons and collective spin fluctuations. The dynamic of the latter are described by a dynamical exponent $z$ depending on the nature of the transition. Second, we consider the Kondo breakdown model for QCP's, one possible scenario for heavy-fermion quantum transitions, for which the effective theory is given by a gauge theory in terms of conduction electrons, spinons for localized spins, holons for hybridization fluctuations, and gauge bosons for collective spin excitations. For both models, we construct the thermodynamic potential, in the whole phase diagram, including all kinds of self-energy corrections in a self-consistent way, at the one loop level. We show how Eliashberg framework emerges at this level and use the resulting Eliashberg equations to simplify the LW expression for free energy . it is found that collective boson excitations play a central role. The scaling expression for the singular part of the free energy near the Kondo breakdown QCP is characterized by two length scales : one is the correlation length for hybridization fluctuations, and the other is that for gauge fluctuations, analogous to the penetration depth in superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Describing systems of interacting fermions by boson models: exact mapping in arbitrary dimension and applications

We develop a new method that allows us to map models of interacting fermions onto bosonic models describing collective excitations in an arbitrary dimension. This mapping becomes exact in the thermodynamic continuous time limit. The boson models can be written either in the form of a model of non-interacting bosons in a fluctuating auxiliary field or in the form of a superfield theory of interacting bosons. We show how one can study the latter version using perturbation theory. Using the developed diagrammatic technique we compared the first two orders of perturbation theory with the corresponding results for the original fermion model and found a perfect agreement. As concerns the former representation, we suggest a scheme that may be suitable for Monte Carlo simulations and demonstrate that it is free of the fermionic sign problem. We discuss in details the properties of the bosonic representation and argue that there should not be any obstacles preventing from an efficient computation.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2008

Violation of Wiedemann-Franz law at the Kondo breakdown quantum critical point

We study both the electrical and thermal transport near the heavy-fermion quantum critical point (QCP), identified with the breakdown of the Kondo effect as an orbital selective Mott transition. We show that the contribution to the electrical conductivity comes mainly from conduction electrons while the thermal conductivity is given by both conduction electrons and localized fermions (spinons), scattered with dynamical exponent $z = 3$. This scattering mechanism gives rise to a quasi-linear temperature dependence of the electrical and thermal resistivity. The characteristic feature of the Kondo breakdown scenario turns out to be emergence of additional entropy carriers, that is, spinon excitations. As a result, we find that the Wiedemann-Franz ratio should be larger than the standard value, a fact which enables to differentiate the Kondo breakdown scenario from the Hertz-Moriya-Millis framework.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2008

Grüneisen ratio at the Kondo breakdown quantum critical point

We show that the scenario of multi-scale Kondo breakdown quantum critical point (QCP) gives rise to a divergent Grüneisen ratio with an anomalous exponent 0.7. In particular, we fit the experimental data of $YbRh_{2}(Si_{0.95}Ge_{0.05})_{2}$ for specific heat, thermal expansion, and Grüneisen ratio based on our simple analytic expressions. A reasonable agreement between the experiment and theory is found for the temperature range between 0.4 K and 10 K. We discuss how the Grüneisen ratio is a key measurement to discriminate between the Kondo breakdown and spin-density wave theories.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2006

Quantum Correction to Conductivity Close to Ferromagnetic Quantum Critical Point in Two Dimensions

We study the temperature dependence of the conductivity due to quantum interference processes for a two-dimensional disordered itinerant electron system close to a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. Near the quantum critical point, the cross-over between diffusive and ballistic regimes of quantum interference effects occurs at a temperature $ T^{\ast}=1/τγ(E_{F}τ)^{2}$, where $γ$ is the parameter associated with the Landau damping of the spin fluctuations, $τ$ is the impurity scattering time, and $E_{F}$ is the Fermi energy. For a generic choice of parameters, $T^{\ast}$ is smaller than the nominal crossover scale $1/τ$. In the ballistic quantum critical regime, the conductivity behaves as $T^{1/3}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2000

Critical phenomena near the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point of Heavy-Fermions

We present a study of the critical phenomena around the quantum critical point in heavy-fermion systems. In the framework of the S=1/2 Kondo lattice model, we introduce an extended decoupling scheme of the Kondo interaction which allows one to treat the spin fluctuations and the Kondo effect on an equal footing. The calculations, developed in a self-consistent one-loop approximation, lead to the formation of a damped collective mode with a dynamic exponent z=2 in the case of an antiferromagnetic instability. The system displays a quantum-classical crossover at finite temperature depending how the energy of the mode, on the scale of the magnetic correlation length, compares to k_B T. The low temperature behavior, in the different regimes separated by the crossover temperatures, is then discussed for both 2- and 3-dimensional systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv1997

Supersymmetry and Theory of Heavy-Fermions

We propose a new approach to the Kondo lattice in order to describe simultaneously the Kondo effect and the local magnetism. This approach relies on an original representation of the $S=1/2$ impurity spin in which the different degrees of freedom are represented by fermionic as well as bosonic variables. The magnetic instability is found at $J_c/D =0.67$ in definite improvement compared to usual fermionic mean- field theories. The dynamical susceptibility contains an inelastic peak in addition to the standard Lindhard-type Fermi liquid contribution. The Fermi surface sum rule includes $n_c+1$ states corresponding to large Fermi surfaces.

cond-mat.str-el↗