arXiv subjects

D. Sénéchal

Publications and source records attributed to D. Sénéchal.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Mott transition and magnetism on the anisotropic triangular lattice

Spin-liquid behavior was recently suggested experimentally in the moderately one-dimensional organic compound $κ$-H$_3$(Cat-EDT-TTF)$_2$. This compound can be modeled by the one-band Hubbard model on the anisotropic triangular lattice with $t^\prime/t \simeq 1.5$, where $t'$ is the minority hopping. It thus becomes important to extend previous studies, that were performed in the range $0 \leq t'/t \leq 1.2$, to find out whether there is a regime where Mott insulating behavior can be found without long-range magnetic order. To this end, we study the above model in the range $1.2 \leq t'/t \leq 2$ using cluster dynamical mean-field theory (CDMFT). We argue that it is important to choose a symmetry-preserving cluster rather than a quasi one-dimensional cluster. We find that, upon increasing $t'/t$ beyond $t^\prime/t \approx 1.3$, the Mott transition at zero-temperature is replaced by a first-order transition separating a metallic state from a collinear magnetic insulating state. Nevertheless, at the physically relevant value $t^\prime/t \simeq 1.5$, the transitions toward the magnetic and the Mott insulating phases are very close. The phase diagram obtained in this study can provide a working basis for moderately one-dimensional compounds on the anisotropic triangular lattice.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Kekulé superconductivity and antiferromagnetism on the graphene lattice

We investigate superconducting order in the extended Hubbard model on the two-dimensional graphene lattice using the variational cluster approximation (VCA) with an exact diagonalization solver at zero temperature. Building on the results of Ref.$[1]$, which identified triplet $p$- and $p+ip$-wave superconductivity as the most favored pairing symmetries in that model, we place uniform SC solutions in competition with the proposed nonuniform Kekulé ($p+ip$-K) superconducting pattern proposed in Ref.$[2]$. We find that the $p+ip$-K solution is in fact the most favored pairing in most of the phase diagram. In addition, we show that antiferromagnetism can co-exist with the $p+ip$-K state and that both orders are enhanced by their coexistence.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Topological phases of the Kitaev-Hubbard Model at half-filling

The Kitaev-Hubbard model of interacting fermions is defined on the honeycomb lattice and, at strong coupling, interpolates between the Heisenberg model and the Kitaev model. It is basically a Hubbard model with ordinary hopping $t$ and spin-dependent hopping $t'$. We study this model in the weak to intermediate coupling regime, at half-filling, using the Cellular Dynamical Impurity Approximation (CDIA), an approach related to Dynamical Mean Field Theory but based on Potthoff's variational principle. We identify four phases in the $(U,t')$ plane: two semi-metallic phases with different numbers of Dirac points, an antiferromagnetic insulator, and an algebraic spin liquid. The last two are separated by a first-order transition. These four phases all meet at a single point and could be realized in cold atom systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Chiral triplet superconductivity on the graphene lattice

Motivated by the possibility of superconductivity in doped graphene sheets, we investigate superconducting order in the extended Hubbard model on the two-dimensional graphene lattice using the variational cluster approximation (VCA) and the cellular dynamical mean-field theory (CDMFT) with an exact diagonalization solver at zero temperature. The nearest-neighbor interaction is treated using a mean-field decoupling between clusters. We compare different pairing symmetries, singlet and triplet, based on short-range pairing. VCA simulations show that the real (nonchiral), triplet $p$-wave symmetry is favored for small $V$, small on-site interaction $U$ or large doping, whereas the chiral combination $p+ip$ is favored for larger values of $V$, stronger on-site interaction $U$ or smaller doping. CDMFT simulations confirm the stability of the $p+ip$ solution, even at half-filling. Singlet superconductivity (extended $s$-wave or $d$-wave) is either absent or sub-dominant.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

$d$-wave superconductivity in coupled ladders

We study the one-band Hubbard model on the trellis lattice, a two-dimensional frustrated lattice of coupled two-leg ladders, with hopping amplitude $t$ within ladders and $t'$ between ladders. For large $U/t$ this is a model for the cuprate Sr$_{14-x}$Ca$_x$Cu$_{24}$O$_{41}$. We investigate the phase diagram as a function of doping for $U=10t$ using two quantum cluster methods: The variational cluster approximation (VCA), with clusters of sizes 8 and 12, and Cellular dynamical mean field theory (CDMFT), both at zero temperature. Both methods predict a superconducting dome, ending at roughly 20\% doping in VCA and 15\% in CDMFT. In VCA, the superconducting order parameter is complex in a range of doping centered around 10\%, corresponding to bulk chiral, $T$-violating superconductivity. However, the CDMFT solution is not chiral. We find evidence for a migration of the Cooper pairs from the inter-ladder region towards the plaquettes as doping is increased.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Impurity-induced magnetic moments on the graphene-lattice Hubbard model: an inhomogeneous cluster DMFT study

Defect-induced magnetic moments are at the center of the research effort on spintronic applications of graphene. Here we study the problem of a nonmagnetic impurity in graphene with a new theoretical method, inhomogeneous cluster dynamical mean field theory (I-CDMFT), which takes into account interaction-induced short-range correlations while allowing long-range inhomogeneities. The system is described by a Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice. The impurity is modeled by a local potential. For a large enough potential, interactions induce local antiferromagnetic correlations around the impurity and a net total spin $\frac12$ appears, in agreement with Lieb's theorem. Bound states caused by the impurity are visible in the local density of states (LDOS) and have their energies shifted by interactions in a spin-dependent way, leading to the antiferromagnetic correlations. Our results take into account dynamical correlations; nevertheless they qualitatively agree with previous mean-field and density functional theory (DFT) studies. Moreover, they provide a relation between impurity potential and on-site repulsion $U$ that could in principle be used to determine experimentally the value of $U$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Resilience of d-wave superconductivity to nearest-neighbor repulsion

Many theoretical approaches find d-wave superconductivity in the prototypical one-band Hubbard model for high-temperature superconductors. At strong-coupling (U > W, where U is the on-site repulsion and W=8t the bandwidth) pairing is controlled by the exchange energy J=4t^2/U. One may then surmise, ignoring retardation effects, that near-neighbor Coulomb repulsion V will destroy superconductivity when it becomes larger than J, a condition that is easily satisfied in cuprates for example. Using Cellular Dynamical Mean-Field theory with an exact diagonalization solver for the extended Hubbard model, we show that pairing, at strong coupling, is preserved even when V>>J, as long as V<U/2. While at weak coupling V always reduces the spin fluctuations and hence d-wave pairing, at strong coupling, in the underdoped regime, the increase of J=4t^2/(U-V) caused by V increases binding at low frequency while the pair-breaking effect of V is pushed to high frequency. These two effects compensate in the underdoped regime, in the presence of a pseudogap. While the pseudogap competes with superconductivity, the proximity to the Mott transition that leads to the pseudogap, and retardation effects, protect d-wave superconductivity from V.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Mott p-n Junctions in layered materials

The p-n junction has provided the basis for the semiconductor-device industry. Investigations of p-n junctions based on Mott insulators is still in its infancy. Layered Mott insulators, such as the cuprates or other transition metal-oxides, present a special challenge since strong in-plane correlations are important. Here we model the planes carefully using plaquette Cellular Dynamical Mean Field Theory with an exact diagonalization solver. The energy associated with inter-plane hopping is neglected compared with the long-range Coulomb interaction that we treat in the Hartree-Fock approximation. Within this new approach, "Dynamical Layer Theory", the charge redistribution is obtained at the final step from minimization of a function of the layer fillings. A simple analytical description of the solution, in the spirit of Thomas-Fermi theory, reproduces quite accurately the numerical results. Various interesting charge reconstructions can be obtained by varying the Fermi energy differences between both sides of the junction. One can even obtain quasi-two dimensional charge carriers at the interface, in the middle of a Mott insulating layer. The density of states as a function of position does not follow the simple band bending picture of semiconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Dynamical electronic nematicity from Mott physics

Very large anisotropies in transport quantities have been observed in the presence of very small in-plane structural anisotropy in many strongly correlated electron materials. By studying the two-dimensional Hubbard model with dynamical-mean-field theory for clusters, we show that such large anisotropies can be induced without static stripe order if the interaction is large enough to yield a Mott transition. Anisotropy decreases at large frequency. The maximum effect on conductivity anisotropy occurs in the underdoped regime, as observed in high temperature superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Pairing dynamics in strongly correlated superconductivity

Confirmation of the phononic origin of Cooper pair formation in superconductors came with the demonstration that the interaction was retarded and that the corresponding energy scales were associated with phonons. Using cellular dynamical mean-field theory for the two-dimensional Hubbard model, we identify such retardation effects in d-wave pairing and associate the corresponding energy scales with short-range spin fluctuations. We find which frequencies are relevant for pairing as a function of interaction strength and doping and show that the disappearance of superconductivity on the overdoped side coincides with the disappearance of the low energy feature in the antiferromagnetic fluctuations, as observed in neutron scattering experiments.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Pseudogap induced by short-range spin correlations in a doped Mott insulator

We study the evolution of a Mott-Hubbard insulator into a correlated metal upon doping in the two-dimensional Hubbard model using the Cellular Dynamical Mean Field Theory. Short-range spin correlations create two additional bands apart from the familiar Hubbard bands in the spectral function. Even a tiny doping into this insulator causes a jump of the Fermi energy to one of these additional bands and an immediate momentum dependent suppression of the spectral weight at this Fermi energy. The pseudogap is closely tied to the existence of these bands. This suggests a strong-coupling mechanism that arises from short-range spin correlations and large scattering rates for the pseudogap phenomenon seen in several cuprates.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Pseudogap and high-temperature superconductivity from weak to strong coupling. Towards quantitative theory

This is a short review of the theoretical work on the two-dimensional Hubbard model performed in Sherbrooke in the last few years. It is written on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity. We discuss several approaches, how they were benchmarked and how they agree sufficiently with each other that we can trust that the results are accurate solutions of the Hubbard model. Then comparisons are made with experiment. We show that the Hubbard model does exhibit d-wave superconductivity and antiferromagnetism essentially where they are observed for both hole and electron-doped cuprates. We also show that the pseudogap phenomenon comes out of these calculations. In the case of electron-doped high temperature superconductors, comparisons with angle-resolved photoemission experiments are nearly quantitative. The value of the pseudogap temperature observed for these compounds in recent photoemission experiments has been predicted by theory before it was observed experimentally. Additional experimental confirmation would be useful. The theoretical methods that are surveyed include mostly the Two-Particle Self-Consistent Approach, Variational Cluster Perturbation Theory (or variational cluster approximation), and Cellular Dynamical Mean-Field Theory.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Cluster Perturbation Theory for Hubbard models

Cluster perturbation theory is a technique for calculating the spectral weight of Hubbard models of strongly correlated electrons, which combines exact diagonalizations on small clusters with strong-coupling perturbation theory at leading order. It is exact in both the strong- and weak-coupling limits and provides a good approximation to the spectral function at any wavevector. Following the paper by Sénéchal et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 84}, 522 (2000)), we provide a more complete description and derivation of the method. We illustrate some of its capabilities, in particular regarding the effect of doping, the calculation of ground state energy and double occupancy, the disappearance of the Fermi surface in the $t-t'$ Hubbard model, and so on. The method is applicable to any model with on-site repulsion only.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

An introduction to bosonization

This is an expanded version of a lecture given at the {\it Workshop on Theoretical Methods for Strongly Correlated Fermions}, held at the {\it Centre de Recherches Mathématiques}, in Montréal, from May 26 to May 30, 1999. After general comments on the relevance of field theory to condensed matter systems, the continuum description of interacting electrons in 1D is summarized. The bosonization procedure is then introduced heuristically, but the precise quantum equivalence between fermion and boson is also presented. Then the exact solution of the Tomonaga-Luttinger model is carried out. Two other applications of bosonization are then sketched. We end with a quick introduction to non-Abelian bosonization.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

The spin-1 ladder : A bosonization study

We construct a field-theoretic description of two coupled spin-1 Heisenberg chains, starting with the known representation of a single spin-1 chain in terms of Majorana fermions (or Ising models). After reexamining the bosonization rules for two Ising models, taking particular care of order and disorder operators, we obtain a bosonic description of the spin-1 ladder. From renormalization-group and mean-field arguments, we conclude that, for a small interchain coupling, the spin-1 ladder is approximately described by three decoupled, two-frequency sine-Gordon models. We then predict that, starting with decoupled chains, the spin gap decreases linearly with interchain coupling, both in the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic directions. Finally, we discuss the possibility of an incommensurate phase in the spin-1 zigzag chain.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1998

Thermal phase diagrams of columnar liquid crystals

In order to understand the possible sequence of transitions from the disordered columnar phase to the helical phase in hexa(hexylthio)triphenylene (HHTT), we study a three-dimensional planar model with octupolar interactions inscribed on a triangular lattice of columns. We obtain thermal phase diagrams using a mean-field approximation and Monte Carlo simulations. These two approaches give similar results, namely, in the quasi one-dimensional regime, as the temperature is lowered, the columns order with a linear polarization, whereas helical phases develop at lower temperatures. The helicity patterns of the helical phases are determined by the exact nature of the frustration in the system, itself related to the octupolar nature of the molecules.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv1992

Crystallising the Depth Rule for WZNW Fusion Coefficients

Motivated by a formula (due to Zelobenko) for finite Lie algebra tensor products, we propose a reformulation of the Gepner-Witten depth rule. Implementation of this rule remains difficult, however, since the basis states convenient for calculating tensor product coefficients do not have a well-defined depth. To avoid this problem, we present a `crystal depth rule', that gives a lower bound for the minimum level at which a WZNW fusion appears. The bound seems to be quite accurate for $su(N>3),$ and for $su(3)$ the rule is proven to be exact. (Talk presented by M.W. at the XIXth International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics.)

hep-th↗