arXiv subjects

N. S. Vidhyadhiraja

Publications and source records attributed to N. S. Vidhyadhiraja.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Quantum critical dynamics of a magnetic impurity in a semiconducting host

We have investigated the finite temperature dynamics of the singlet to doublet continuous quantum phase transition in the gapped Anderson impurity model using hybridization expansion continuous time quantum Monte-Carlo. Using the self-energy and the longitudinal static susceptibility, we obtain a phase diagram in the temperature-gap plane. The separatrix between the low temperature local moment phase and the high temperature generalized Fermi liquid phase of this phase diagram is shown to be the lower bound of the critical scaling region of the zero gap quantum critical point of interacting type. We have computed the nuclear magnetic spin-lattice relaxation rate, the Knight shift and the Korringa ratio, which show strong deviations for any non-zero gap from the corresponding quantities in the gapless Kondo screened impurity case.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Metal-Insulator-Transition in a Weakly interacting Disordered Electron System

The interplay of interactions and disorder is studied using the Anderson-Hubbard model within the typical medium dynamical cluster approximation. Treating the interacting, non-local cluster self-energy ($Σ_c[{\cal \tilde{G}}](i,j\neq i)$) up to second order in the perturbation expansion of interactions, $U^2$, with a systematic incorporation of non-local spatial correlations and diagonal disorder, we explore the initial effects of electron interactions ($U$) in three dimensions. We find that the critical disorder strength ($W_c^U$), required to localize all states, increases with increasing $U$; implying that the metallic phase is stabilized by interactions. Using our results, we predict a soft pseudogap at the intermediate $W$ close to $W_c^U$ and demonstrate that the mobility edge ($ω_ε$) is preserved as long as the chemical potential, $μ$, is at or beyond the mobility edge energy.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2015

Weak ferromagnetism and magnetization reversal in YFe$_{1-x}$Cr$_x$O$_3$

We present combined experimental and theoretical studies on the magnetic properties of a solid solution between yttrium orthoferrite and yttrium orthochromite systems, YFe$_{1-x}$Cr$_x$O$_3$ (0 $\leq$ x $\leq$ 1) where Fe$^{3+}$ and Cr$^{3+}$ ions are distributed randomly at the same crystallographic site (4b). We found that all the compositions exhibit weak ferromagnetism below the Néel temperature that decreases non-linearly with increasing $x$, while certain intermediate compositions ($x = 0.4,0.5$) show a compensation point and magnetization reversal. This unusual behavior is explained based on a simple model comprising the isotropic superexchange and the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. This model explains the magnetization behavior in the entire range of doping and temperature including the magnetization reversal which results from an interplay of various DM interactions such as, Fe-O-Fe, Cr-O-Cr and Fe-O-Cr.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Finite Cluster Typical Medium Theory for Disordered Electronic Systems

We use the recently developed typical medium dynamical cluster (TMDCA) approach~[Ekuma \etal,~\textit{Phys. Rev. B \textbf{89}, 081107 (2014)}] to perform a detailed study of the Anderson localization transition in three dimensions for the Box, Gaussian, Lorentzian, and Binary disorder distributions, and benchmark them with exact numerical results. Utilizing the nonlocal hybridization function and the momentum resolved typical spectra to characterize the localization transition in three dimensions, we demonstrate the importance of both spatial correlations and a typical environment for the proper characterization of the localization transition in all the disorder distributions studied. As a function of increasing cluster size, the TMDCA systematically recovers the re-entrance behavior of the mobility edge for disorder distributions with finite variance, obtaining the correct critical disorder strengths, and shows that the order parameter critical exponent for the Anderson localization transition is universal. The TMDCA is computationally efficient, requiring only a small cluster to obtain qualitative and quantitative data in good agreement with numerical exact results at a fraction of the computational cost. Our results demonstrate that the TMDCA provides a consistent and systematic description of the Anderson localization transition.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2015

Random Field Driven Spatial Complexity at the Mott Transition in VO2

We report the first application of critical cluster techniques to the Mott metal-insulator transition in vanadium dioxide. We show that the geometric properties of the metallic and insulating puddles observed by scanning near-field infrared microscopy are consistent with the system passing near criticality of the random field Ising model as temperature is varied. The resulting large barriers to equilibrium may be the source of the unusually robust hysteresis phenomena associated with the metal-insulator transition in this system.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Spectral changes in layered $f$-electron systems induced by Kondo hole substitution in the boundary-layer

We investigate the effect of disorder on the dynamical spectrum of layered $f$-electron systems. With random dilution of $f$-sites in a single Kondo insulating layer, we explore the range and extent to which Kondo hole incoherence can penetrate into adjacent layers. We consider three cases of neighboring layers: band insulator, Kondo insulator and simple metal. The disorder-induced spectral weight transfer, used here for quantification of the proximity effect, decays algebraically with distance from the boundary layer. Further, we show that the spectral weight transfer is highly dependent on the frequency range considered as well as the presence of interactions in the clean adjacent layers. The changes in the low frequency spectrum are very similar when the adjacent layers are either metallic or Kondo insulating, and hence are independent of interactions. In stark contrast, a distinct picture emerges for the spectral weight transfers across large energy scales. The spectral weight transfer over all energy scales is much higher when the adjacent layers are non-interacting as compared to when they are strongly interacting Kondo insulators. Thus, over all scales, interactions screen the disorder effects significantly. We discuss the possibility of a crossover from non-Fermi liquid to Fermi liquid behavior upon increasing the ratio of clean to disordered layers in particle-hole asymmetric systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Kondo-hole substitution in heavy fermions: dynamics and transport

Kondo-hole substitution is a unique probe for exploring the interplay of interactions, f-electron dilution and disorder in heavy fermion materials. Within the diluted periodic Anderson model, we investigate the changes in single-particle dynamics as well as response functions, as a function of Kondo hole concentration ($x$) and temperature. We show that the spectral weight transfers due to Kondo hole substitution has characteristics that are different from those induced by temperature; The dc resistivity crosses over from a highly non-monotonic form with a coherence peak in the $x\rightarrow 0$ limit to a monotonic single-impurity like form that saturates at low temperature. The thermopower exhibits a characteristic maximum as a function of temperature, the value of which changes sign with increasing $x$, and its location is shown to correspond to a low energy scale of the system. The Hall coefficient also changes sign with increasing $x$ at zero temperature and is highly temperature dependent for all $x$. As $x$ is increased beyond a certain $x_c$, the Drude peak and the mid-infrared peak in the optical conductivity vanish almost completely; A peak in the optical scattering rate melts and disappears eventually. We discuss the above-mentioned changes in the properties in terms of a crossover from coherent, Kondo lattice behaviour to single impurity like, incoherent behaviour with increasing $x$. A comparison of theory with experiments carried out for the dc resistivity and the thermopower of Ce$_{1-x}$La$_x$B$_6$ yields good agreement.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Random local attraction driven metal-superconductor transitions

In this paper, we investigate the disordered attractive Hubbard model by combining dynamical mean field theory, coherent potential approximation and iterated perturbation theory for superconductivity as an impurity solver. Disorder is introduced in the local attraction $U$. We assume that $U$ is distributed according to a bimodal probability distribution, wherein an $x$ fraction of sites are pairing centers ($U\neq0$) and $(1-x)$ fraction of sites are non-interacting ($U=0$). It is found that beyond a critical $x=x_c$, a first order metal-superconductor phase transition leads to superconductivity being induced in the interacting as well as non-interacting.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Proximity effects in a superconductor-normal metal bilayer system

In this letter, we have studied the effects of proximity of a superconductor to a normal metal. The system, represented by a bilayer attractive Hubbard model, is investigated using layer-dynamical mean field theory and iterated perturbation theory for superconductivity as an impurity solver. The bilayer system comprises a superconducting and a normal metallic layer, connected by an inter-planar hopping ($t_\perp$). It is found that superconductivity is induced in the normal layer for small $t_\perp$. With increasing inter-layer hopping, the bilayer system undergoes two transitions: a first order transition to a normal metallic phase, and subsequently a continuous crossover to a band insulator.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Non-Fermi liquid behaviour from dynamical effects of impurity scattering in correlated Fermi liquids

The interplay of disorder and interactions is a subject of perennial interest. In this work, we have investigated the effect of disorder due to chemical substitution on the dynamics and transport properties of correlated Fermi liquids. A low frequency analysis in the concentrated and dilute limits shows that the dynamical local potentials arising through disorder averaging generate a linear (in frequency) term in the scattering rate. Such non-Fermi liquid behaviour (nFL) is investigated in detail for Kondo hole substitution in heavy fermions within dynamical mean field theory. We find closed form expressions for the dependence of the static and linear terms in the scattering rate on substitutional disorder and model parameters. We argue that the low temperature resistivity will acquire a linear in temperature term, and show that the Drude peak structure in the optical conductivity will disappear beyond a certain disorder $p_c$, that marks the crossover from lattice coherent to single-impurity behaviour. A full numerical solution of the DMFT equations reveals that the nFL term will show up significantly only in certain regimes, although it is present for any non-zero disorder concentration in principle. We highlight the dramatic changes that occur in the quasiparticle scattering rate in the proximity of $p_c$. Remarkably, we find that the nFL behaviour due to dynamical effects of impurity scattering has features that are distinct from those arising through Griffiths singularities or distribution of Kondo scales. Relevance of our findings to experiments on alloyed correlated systems is pointed out.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Site-disorder driven superconductor-insulator transition: A dynamical mean field study

We investigate the effect of site-disorder on the superconducting (SC) state in the attractive Hubbard model within the framework of dynamical mean field theory. For a fixed interaction strength ($U$), the SC order parameter (OP) decreases monotonically with increasing disorder ($x$), while the single-particle spectral gap (SG) decreases for small $x$, reaches a minimum and keeps increasing for larger $x$. Thus, the system remains gapped beyond the destruction of the superconducting state, indicating a disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition. We investigate this transition in depth considering the effects of weak and strong disorder for a range of interaction strengths. In the clean case, the order-parameter is known to increase monotonically with increasing interaction, saturating at a finite value asymptotically for $U\rightarrow \infty$. The presence of disorder results in destruction of superconductivity at large $U$, thus drastically modifying the clean case behaviour. A physical understanding of our findings is obtained by invoking particle-hole asymmetry and the probability distributions of the order parameter and spectral gap.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Transport and Spectra in the Half-filled Hubbard Model: A Dynamical Mean Field Study

We study the issues of scaling and universality in spectral and transport properties of the infinite dimensional particle--hole symmetric (half-filled) Hubbard model within dynamical mean field theory. One of the simplest and extensively used impurity solvers, namely the iterated perturbation theory approach is reformulated to avoid problems such as analytic continuation of Matsubara frequency quantities or calculating multi-dimensional integrals, while taking full account of the very sharp structures in the Green's functions that arise close to the Mott transitions and in the Mott insulator regime. We demonstrate its viability for the half-filled Hubbard model. Previous known results are reproduced within the present approach. The universal behavior of the spectral functions in the Fermi liquid regime is emphasized, and adiabatic continuity to the non-interacting limit is demonstrated. The dc resistivity in the metallic regime is known to be a non-monotonic function of temperature with a `coherence peak'. This feature is shown to be a universal feature occurring at a temperature roughly equal to the low energy scale of the system. A comparison to pressure dependent dc resistivity experiments on Selenium doped NiS$_2$ yields qualitatively good agreement. Resistivity hysteresis across the Mott transition is shown to be described qualitatively within the present framework. A direct comparison of the thermal hysteresis observed in V$_2$O$_3$ with our theoretical results yields a value of the hopping integral, which we find to be in the range estimated through first-principle methods. Finally, a systematic study of optical conductivity is carried out and the changes in absorption as a result of varying interaction strength and temperature are identified.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Preformed Excitons, Orbital Selectivity, and Charge-Density-Wave Order in 1T-TiSe_2

Traditional routes to Charge-Density-Wave in transition metal dichalcogenides, relying on Fermi surface nesting or Jahn-Teller instabilities have recently been brought into question. While this calls for exploration of alternative views, paucity of theoretical guidance sustains lively controversy on the origin of, and interplay between CDW and superconductive orders in transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, we explore a preformed excitonic liquid route, heavily supplemented by modern correlated electronic structure calculations, to an excitonic-CDW order in 1T-TiSe$_{2}$. We show that orbital-selective dynamical localisation arising from preformed excitonic liquid correlations is somewhat reminiscent to states proposed for $d$- and $f$-band quantum criticality at the border of magnetism. Excellent quantitative explication of a wide range of spectral and transport responses in both normal and CDW phases provides strong support for our scenario, and suggests that soft excitonic liquid fluctuations mediate superconductivity in a broad class of transition metal dichalcogenides on the border of CDW. This brings the transition metal dichalcogenides closer to the bad actors in $d$- and $f$-band systems, where anomalously soft fluctuations of electronic origin are believed to mediate unconventional superconductivity on the border of magnetism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Protocols for characterizing quantum transport through nano-structures

In this work, we have analyzed the exact closed-form solutions for transport quantities through a mesoscopic region which may be characterized by a polynomial functional of resonant transmission functions. These are then utilized to develop considerably improved protocols for parameters relevant for quantum transport through molecular junctions and quantum dots. The protocols are shown to be experimentally feasible and should yield the parameters at much higher resolution than the previously proposed ones.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

From mixed valence to the Kondo lattice regime

Many heavy fermion materials are known to crossover from the Kondo lattice regime to the mixed-valent regime or vice-versa as a function of pressure or doping. We study this crossover theoretically by employing the periodic Anderson model within the framework of the dynamical mean field theory. Changes occurring in the dynamics and transport across this crossover are highlighted. As the valence is decreased (increased) relative to the Kondo lattice regime, the Kondo resonance broadens significantly, while the lower (upper) Hubbard band moves closer to the Fermi level. The resistivity develops a two peak structure in the mixed valent regime: a low temperature coherence peak and a high temperature 'Hubbard band' peak. These two peaks merge yielding a broad shallow maximum upon decreasing the valence further. The optical conductivity, likewise exhibits an unusual absorption feature (shoulder) in the deep mid-infrared region, which grows in intensity with decreasing valence. The involvement of the Hubbard bands in dc transport, and of the effective f-level in the optical conductivity are shown to be responsible for the anomalous transport properties. A two-band hybridization-gap model, which neglects incoherent effects due to many-body scattering, commonly employed to understand the optical response in these materials is shown to be inadequate, especially in the mixed-valent regime. Comparison of theory with experiment carried out for (a) dc resistivities of CeRhIn5, Ce2Ni3Si5, CeFeGe3 and YbIr2Si2; (b) pressure dependent resistivity of YbInAu2 and CeCu6; and (c) optical conductivity measurements in YbIr2Si2 yields excellent agreement.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Preformed excitonic liquid route to a charge density wave in 2H-TaSe$_2$

Recent experiments on 2H-TaSe$_2$ contradict the long-held view of the charge density wave arising from a nested band structure. An intrinsically strong coupling view, involving a charge density wave state arising as a Bose condensation of preformed excitons emerges as an attractive, albeit scantily investigated alternative. Using local density approximation plus multiorbital dynamic mean-field theory, we show that this scenario agrees with a variety of normal state data for 2H-TaSe$_{2}$. Based thereupon, the ordered states in a subset of dichalcogenides should be viewed as instabilities of a correlated, preformed excitonic liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Field dependent dynamics in the metallic regime of the half-filled Hubbard model

A systematic study of the effect of magnetic field (h) on Hubbard model has been carried out at half filling within dynamical mean field theory. In agreement with previous studies, we find a zero temperature itinerant metamagnetic transition, reflected in the discontinuous changes in magnetization as well as in the hysteresis, from a paramagnetic (PM) metallic state to a polarized quasi-ferromagnetic (QFM) state, at intermediate and large interaction strength ($U$). The jump in magnetization vanishes smoothly with decreasing interaction strength, and at a critical $U$, the transition becomes continuous. The region of `coexistence' of the PM and QFM solutions in the field-$U$ plane obtained in this study agrees quantitatively with recent numerical renormalization group calculations, thus providing an important benchmark. We highlight the changes in dynamics and quasiparticle weight across this transition. The effective mass increases sharply as the transition is approached, exhibiting a cusp-like singularity at the critical field,and decreases with field monotonically beyond the transition. We conjecture that the first order metamagnetic transition is a result of the competition between Kondo screening, that tries to quench the local moments, and Zeeman coupling, which induces polarization and hence promotes local moment formation. A comparison of our theoretical results with experiments on $^{3}He$ indicate that, a theory of $^{3}He$ based on the half-filled Hubbard model places it in a regime of intermediate interaction strength.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Magnetoresistance in paramagnetic heavy fermion metals

A theoretical study of magnetic field (h) effects on single-particle spectra and transport quantities of heavy fermion metals in the paramagnetic phase is carried out. We have employed a non-perturbative local moment approach (LMA) to the asymmetric periodic Anderson model within the dynamical mean field framework. The lattice coherence scale $\om_L$, which is proportional within the LMA to the spin-flip energy scale, and has been shown in earlier studies to be the energy scale at which crossover to single impurity physics occurs,increases monotonically with increasing magnetic field. The many body Kondo resonance in the density of states at the Fermi level splits into two with the splitting being proportional to the field itself. For h$\geq$ 0, we demonstrate adiabatic continuity from the strongly interacting case to a corresponding non-interacting limit, thus establishing Fermi liquid behaviour for heavy fermion metals in the presence of magnetic field. In the Kondo lattice regime, the theoretically computed magnetoresistance is found to be negative in the entire temperature range. We argue that such a result could be understood at $T\gtrsim \om_L$ by field-induced suppression of spin-flip scattering and at $T\lesssim \om_L$ through lattice coherence. The coherence peak in the heavy fermion resistivity diminishes and moves to higher temperatures with increasing field. Direct comparison of the theoretical results to the field dependent resistivity measurements in CeB$_6$ yields good agreement.

cond-mat.str-el↗