arXiv subjects

Matthias Vojta

Publications and source records attributed to Matthias Vojta.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Boundary quantum criticality in models of magnetic impurities coupled to bosonic baths

We investigate quantum impurity problems, where a local magnetic moment is coupled to the spin density of a bosonic environment, leading to bosonic versions of the standard Kondo and Anderson impurity models. In a physical situation, these bosonic environments can correspond either to deconfined spinons in certain classes of Z_2 frustrated antiferromagnets, or to particles in a multicomponent Bose gase (in which case the spin degree of freedom is attributed to hyperfine levels). Using renormalization group techniques, we establish that our impurity models, which feature an exchange interaction analogous to Kondo impurities in Fermi liquids, allow the flow towards a stable strong-coupling state. Since the low-energy bosons live around a single point in momentum space, and there is no Fermi surface, an impurity quantum phase transition occurs at intermediate coupling, separating screened and unscreened phases. This behavior is qualitatively different from previously studied spin-isotropic variants of the spin-boson model, which display stable intermediate-coupling fixed points and no screening.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Universal crossovers and critical dynamics of quantum phase transitions: A renormalization group study of the pseudogap Kondo problem

The pseudogap Kondo problem, describing a magnetic impurity embedded in an electronic environment with a power-law density of states, displays continuous quantum phase transitions between free and screened moment phases. In this paper we employ renormalization group techniques to analytically calculate universal crossover functions, associated to these transitions, for various observables. Quantitative agreement with the results of Numerical Renormalization Group (NRG) simulations is obtained for temperature-dependent static and zero-temperature dynamic quantities, at and away from criticality. In the notoriously difficult realm of finite-temperature low-frequency dynamics, usually inaccessible to both NRG and perturbative methods, we show that progress can be made by a suitable renormalization procedure in the framework of the Callan-Symanzik equations. Our general strategy can be extended to other zero-temperature phase transitions, both in quantum impurity models and bulk systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Quantum criticality in a double quantum-dot system

We discuss the realization of the quantum-critical non-Fermi liquid state, originally discovered within the two-impurity Kondo model, in double quantum-dot systems. Contrary to the common belief, the corresponding fixed point is robust against particle-hole and various other asymmetries, and is only unstable to charge transfer between the two dots. We propose an experimental set-up where such charge transfer processes are suppressed, allowing a controlled approach to the quantum critical state. We also discuss transport and scaling properties in the vicinity of the critical point.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

A mean-field theory for strongly disordered non-frustrated antiferromagnets

Motivated by impurity-induced magnetic ordering phenomena in spin-gap materials like TlCuCl3, we develop a mean-field theory for strongly disordered antiferromagnets, designed to capture the broad distribution of coupling constants in the effective model for the impurity degrees of freedom. Based on our results, we argue that in the presence of random magnetic couplings the conventional first-order spin-flop transition of an anisotropic antiferromagnet is split into two transitions at low temperatures, associated with separate order parameters along and perpendicular to the field axis. We demonstrate the existence of either a bicritcal point or a critical endpoint in the temperature-field phase diagram, with the consequence that signatures of the spin flop are more pronounced at elevated temperature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Spin excitations in fluctuating stripe phases of doped cuprate superconductors

Using a phenomenological lattice model of coupled spin and charge modes, we determine the spin susceptibility in the presence of fluctuating stripe charge order. We assume the charge fluctuations to be slow compared to those of the spins, and combine Monte Carlo simulations for the charge order parameter with exact diagonalization of the spin sector. Our calculations unify the spin dynamics of both static and fluctuating stripe phases and support the notion of a universal spin excitation spectrum in doped cuprate superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Signatures of a Noise-Induced Quantum Phase Transition in a Mesoscopic Metal Ring

We study a mesoscopic ring with an in-line quantum dot threaded by an Aharonov-Bohm flux. Zero-point fluctuations of the electromagnetic environment capacitively coupled to the ring, with $ω^s$ spectral density, can suppress tunneling through the dot, resulting in a quantum phase transition from an unpolarized to a polarized phase. We show that robust signatures of such a transition can be found in the response of the persistent current in the ring to the external flux as well as to the bias between the dot and the arm. Particular attention is paid to the experimentally relevant cases of ohmic ($s=1$) and subohmic ($s=1/2$) noise.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Strongly Inhomogeneous Phases and Non-Fermi Liquid Behavior in Randomly Depleted Kondo Lattices

We investigate the low-temperature behavior of Kondo lattices upon random depletion of the local $f$-moments, by using strong-coupling arguments and solving SU($N$) saddle-point equations on large lattices. For a large range of intermediate doping levels, between the coherent Fermi liquid of the dense lattice and the single-impurity Fermi liquid of the dilute limit, we find strongly inhomogeneous states that exhibit distinct non-Fermi liquid characteristics. In particular, the interplay of dopant disorder and strong interactions leads to rare weakly screened moments which dominate the bulk susceptibility. Our results are relevant to compounds like Ce_{x}La_{1-x}CoIn_5 and Ce_{x}La_{1-x}Pb_3

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

The Kondo effect in bosonic spin liquids

In a metal, a magnetic impurity is fully screened by the conduction electrons at low temperature. In contrast, impurity moments coupled to spin-1 bulk bosons, such as triplet excitations in paramagnets, are only partially screened, even at the bulk quantum critical point. We argue that this difference is not due to the quantum statistics of the host particles but instead related to the structure of the impurity-host coupling, by demonstrating that frustrated magnets with bosonic spinon excitations can display a bosonic version of the Kondo effect. However, the Bose statistics of the bulk implies distinct behavior, such as a weak-coupling impurity quantum phase transition, and perfect screening for a range of impurity spin values. We discuss implications of our results for the compound Cs2CuCl4, as well as possible extensions to multicomponent bosonic gases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Magnetic order in lightly doped cuprates: Coherent vs. incoherent hole quasiparticles and non-magnetic impurities

We investigate magnetic properties of lightly doped antiferromagnetic Mott insulators in the presence of non-magnetic impurities. Within the framework of the t-J model we calculate the doping dependence of the antiferromagnetic order parameter using the self-consistent diagrammatic techniques. We show that in the presence of non-magnetic impurities the antiferromagnetic order is more robust against hole doping in comparison with the impurity-free host, implying that magnetic order can re-appear upon Zn doping into lightly hole-doped cuprates. We argue that this is primarily due to the loss of coherence and reduced mobility of the hole quasiparticles caused by impurity scattering. These results are consistent with experimental data on Zn-doped LaSrCuO.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Kondo screening in unconventional superconductors: The role of anomalous propagators

The Kondo effect in superconductors is frequently investigated using the local quasiparticle density of states as sole bath characteristics, i.e., the presence of anomalous propagators is ignored. Here we point out that this treatment is exact for a number of situations, including point-like impurities in d-wave superconductors. We comment on recent investigations [M. Matsumoto and M. Koga, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 70, 2860 (2001), cond-mat/0011256, and Phys. Rev. B 65, 024508 (2002), cond-mat/0103053] which reached different conclusions: while their numerical results are likely correct, their interpretation in terms of two-channel Kondo physics and an "orbital effect of Cooper pairs" is incorrect.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Critical points and non-Fermi liquids in the underscreened pseudogap Kondo model

Numerical Renormalization Group simulations have shown that the underscreened spin-1 Kondo impurity model with power-law bath density of states (DOS) $ρ(\w) \propto |\w|^r$ possesses various intermediate-coupling fixed points, including a stable non-Fermi liquid phase. In this paper we discuss the corresponding universal low-energy theories, obtain thermodynamic quantities and critical exponents by renormalization group analysis together with suitable $ε$-expansions, and compare our results with numerical data. Whereas the particle-hole symmetric critical point can be controlled at weak coupling using a simple generalization of the spin-1/2 model, we show that the stable non-Fermi liquid fixed point must be accessed near strong coupling via a mapping onto an effective ferromagnetic $S_\mr{eff}=1/2$ model with singular bath DOS with exponent $r_\mr{eff}=-r<0$. In addition, we consider the particle-hole asymmetric critical fixed point, for which we propose a universal field theory involving the crossing between doublet and triplet levels.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Numerical Renormalization Group for Impurity Quantum Phase Transitions: Structure of Critical Fixed Points

The numerical renormalization group method is used to investigate zero temperature phase transitions in quantum impurity systems, in particular in the particle-hole symmetric soft-gap Anderson model. The model displays two stable phases whose fixed points can be built up of non-interacting single-particle states. In contrast, the quantum phase transitions turn out to be described by interacting fixed points, and their excitations cannot be described in terms of free particles. We show that the structure of the many-body spectrum of these critical fixed points can be understood using renormalized perturbation theory close to certain values of the bath exponents which play the role of critical dimensions. Contact is made with perturbative renormalization group calculations for the soft-gap Anderson and Kondo models. A complete description of the quantum critical many-particle spectra is achieved using suitable marginal operators; technically this can be understood as epsilon-expansion for full many-body spectra.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Spontaneous interlayer coherence in bilayer Kondo systems

Bilayer Kondo systems present interesting models to illustrate the competition between the Kondo effect and intermoment exchange. Such bilayers can exhibit two sharply distinct Fermi liquid phases which are distinguished by whether or not the local moments participate in the Fermi sea. We study these phases and the evolution from one to the other upon changing Kondo coupling. We argue that an ordered state with spontaneous interlayer phase coherence generically intervenes between the two Fermi liquids. Such a condensate phase breaks a U(1) symmetry and is bounded by a finite-temperature Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Based on general arguments and mean-field calculations we investigate the phase diagram and associated quantum phase transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Phase transitions in the pseudogap Anderson and Kondo models: Critical dimensions, renormalization group, and local-moment criticality

The pseudogap Kondo problem, describing quantum impurities coupled to fermionic quasiparticles with a pseudogap density of states, rho(omega) ~ |omega|^r, shows a rich zero-temperature phase diagram, with different screened and free moment phases and associated transitions. We analyze both the particle-hole symmetric and asymmetric cases using renormalization group techniques. In the vicinity of r=0, which plays the role of a lower-critical dimension, an expansion in the Kondo coupling is appropriate. In contrast, r=1 is the upper-critical dimension in the absence of particle-hole symmetry, and here insight can be gained using an expansion in the hybridization strength of the Anderson model. As a by-product, we show that the particle-hole symmetric strong-coupling fixed point for r<1 is described by a resonant level model, and corresponds to an intermediate-coupling fixed point in the renormalization group language. Interestingly, the value r=1/2 plays the role of a second lower-critical dimension in the particle-hole symmetric case, and there we can make progress by a novel expansion performed around a resonant level model. The different expansions allow a complete description of all critical fixed points of the models and can be used to compute a variety of properties near criticality, describing universal local-moment fluctuations at these impurity quantum phase transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Impurity Quantum Phase Transitions

We review recent work on continuous quantum phase transitions in impurity models, both with fermionic and bosonic baths - these transitions are interesting realizations of boundary critical phenomena at zero temperature. The models with fermion bath are generalizations of the standard Kondo model, with the common feature that Kondo screening of the localized spin can be suppressed due to competing processes. The models with boson bath are related to the spin-boson model of dissipative two-level systems, where the interplay between tunneling and friction results in multiple phases. The competition inherent to all models can generate unstable fixed points associated with quantum phase transitions, where the impurity properties undergo qualitative changes. Interestingly, certain impurity transitions feature both lower-critical and upper-critical "dimensions" and allow for epsilon-type expansions. We present results for a number of observables, obtained by both analytical and numerical renormalization group techniques, and make connections to experiments.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2004

Impact of disorder on unconventional superconductors with competing ground states

Non-magnetic impurities are known as strong pair breakers in superconductors with pure d-wave pairing symmetry. Here we discuss d-wave states under the combined influence of impurities and competing instabilities, such as pairing in a secondary channel as well as lattice symmetry breaking. Using the self-consistent T-matrix formalism, we show that disorder can strongly modify the competition between different pairing states. For a d-wave superconductor in the presence of a subdominant local attraction, Anderson's theorem implies that disorder always generates an s-wave component in the gap at sufficiently low temperature, even if a pure d_{x^2-y^2} order parameter characterizes the clean system. In contrast, disorder is always detrimental to an additional d_{xy} component. This qualitative difference suggests that disorder can be used to discriminate among different mixed-gap structures in high-temperature superconductors. We also investigate superconducting phases with lattice symmetry breaking in the form of bond order, and show that the addition of impurities quickly leads to the restoration of translation invariance. Our results highlight the importance of controlling disorder for the observation of competing order parameters in cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Numerical Renormalization Group for Quantum Impurities in a Bosonic Bath

We present a detailed description of the recently proposed numerical renormalization group method for models of quantum impurities coupled to a bosonic bath. Specifically, the method is applied to the spin-boson model, both in the Ohmic and sub-Ohmic cases. We present various results for static as well as dynamic quantities and discuss details of the numerical implementation, e.g., the discretization of a bosonic bath with arbitrary continuous spectral density, the suitable choice of a finite basis in the bosonic Hilbert space, and questions of convergence w.r.t. truncation parameters. The method is shown to provide high-accuracy data over the whole range of model parameters and temperatures, which are in agreement with exact results and other numerical data from the literature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Quantum phase transitions out of the heavy Fermi liquid

We review recent work on the instability of the heavy Fermi liquid state (FL) of the Kondo lattice towards a magnetic metal in which the local moments are not part of the Fermi sea. Using insights drawn from the theory of deconfined quantum criticality of insulating antiferromagnets, we discuss the possibility of a direct second order transition between the heavy Fermi liquid and such a magnetic metal. We suggest the presence of at least two distinct diverging time scales - the shorter one describes fluctuations associated with the reconstruction of the Fermi surface, while a longer one describes fluctuations of the magnetic order parameter. The intermediate time scale physics on the magnetic side is suggested to be that of a novel fractionalized Fermi liquid (FL*) state with deconfined neutral S=1/2 excitations. This could ultimately devolve into the magnetic phase with conventional order at one of the larger time scales. Experimental implications for this scenario are noted.

cond-mat.str-el↗