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Peter Fulde

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Fulde.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Bound state of 4$f$-excitation and magnetic resonance in unconventional superconductors

We analyze the influence of unconventional superconductivity on crystalline electric field (CEF) excitations of rare earth ions in novel superconductors. We show that resonant magnetic excitations of the conduction electrons that have been observed in these systems below T$_c$ may result in the formation of the bound state in the 4$f$-electron susceptibility. This occurs at energies well below the CEF excitation energy. The effect is discussed as a function of temperature and the strength of the coupling between the 4$f$ and $d$-electrons. We argue that these effects may be present in the layered cuprates and ferropnictides which contain rare-earth ions.

cond-mat.supr-con

Theory of Spin Exciton in the Kondo Semiconductor $Yb B_{12}$

The Kondo semiconductor $Yb B_{12}$ exhibits a spin and charge gap of approximately 15 meV. Close to the gap energy narrow dispersive collective excitations were identified by previous inelastic neutron scattering experiments. We present a theoretical analysis of these excitations. Starting from a periodic Anderson model for crystalline electric field (CEF) split 4f states we derive the hybridized quasiparticle bands in slave boson mean-field approximation and calculate the momentum dependent dynamical susceptibility in random phase approximation (RPA). We show that a small difference in the hybridization of the two CEF (quasi-) quartets leads to the appearance of two dispersive spin resonance excitations at the continuum threshold. Their intensity is largest at the antiferromagnetic (AF) zone boundary point and they have an upward dispersion which merges with the continuum less than halfway into the Brillouin zone. Our theoretical analysis explains the most salient features of previously unexplained experiments on the magnetic excitations of $Yb B_{12}$.

cond-mat.str-el

Strongly correlated electrons on frustrated lattices

We give an overview of recent work on charge degrees of freedom of strongly correlated electrons on geometrically frustrated lattices. Special attention is paid to the checkerboard lattice, i.e., the two-dimensional version of a pyrochlore lattice and to the kagome lattice. For the checkerboard lattice it is shown that at half filling when spin degrees of freedom are neglected and quarter filling when they are included excitations with fractional charges $\pm$e/2 may exist. The same holds true for the three-dimensional pyrochlore lattice. In the former case the fractional charges are confined. The origin of the weak constant confining force is discussed and some similarities to quarks and to string theory are pointed out. For the checkerboard lattice a formulation in terms of a compact U(1) gauge theory is described. Furthermore a new kinetic mechanism for ferromagnetism at special fillings of a kagome lattice is discussed.

cond-mat.str-el

Eliashberg theory of superconductivity and inelastic rare-earth impurity scattering in filled skutterudite La$_{1-x}$Pr$_{x}$Os$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$

We study the influence of inelastic rare-earth impurity scattering on electron-phonon mediated superconductivity and mass renormalization in (La$_{1-x}$Pr$_{x}$)Os$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ compounds. Solving the strong coupling Eliashberg equations we find that the dominant quadrupolar component of the inelastic scattering on Pr impurities yields an enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature T$_c$ in LaOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ and increases monotonically as a function of Pr concentration. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimentally observed T$_c (x)$ dependence. Our analysis suggests that phonons and quadrupolar excitations cause the attractive electron interaction which results in the formation of Cooper pairs and singlet superconductivity in PrOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$.

cond-mat.supr-con

Nonlocal Excitation Spectra in 2D Doped Hubbard Model

Single-particle excitation spectra of the two-dimensional Hubbard model on the square lattice near half filling and at zero temperature are investigated on the basis of the self-consistent projection operator method. The method guarantees a high accuracy of the spectra with high energy and high momentum resolutions. It takes into account long-range intersite correlations as well as the strong on-site correlations. Effects of nonlocal excitations are clarified by comparing the results with those of the single-site approximation. The calculated spectra verify the quantum Monte-Carlo results for finite temperatures. The spectra at the Fermi level yield a hole-like Fermi surface in the underdoped region and an electron-like Fermi surface in the overdoped region. From a numerical analysis of the momentum dependent effective mass and self-energy, it is concluded that a marginal Fermi-liquid like state persists even at finite doping concentrations in the strongly correlated region because a van Hove singularity is pinned to the Fermi surface. It is also found that a kink structure appears in the quasiparticle energy band in the same region. The kink is shown to be caused by a mixing between the quasiparticle band and an excitation band with strong short-range antiferromagnetic correlations. These results suggest an explanation for some of the unusual properties of the normal state in high-$T_{\rm c}$ cuprates.

cond-mat.str-el

Strongly correlated electrons

We review theoretical concepts and models for materials with strongly correlated d- or f electrons. We discuss low-energy effective models and the renormalized band method for Ce-based Kondo lattice systems. They are applied to the analysis of associated magnetic and superconducting instabilities. In addititon quantum phase transitions are investigated. Special emphasis is given to the partial localisation of 5f electrons in U compounds and its consequences for unconventional superconductivity. Wigner crystallisation in the homogeneous electron gas and its generalisation to 4f pnictide and 3d oxide materials is covered extensively. We analyse simultaneous charge order and lattice instabilities in geometrically frustrated V-oxide spinels. Using a spinless fermion model we also discuss the emergence of fractional charges in the frustrated pyrochlore or checkerboard lattice. Finally we focus on the signature of strong electronic correlations in high-energy excitations.

cond-mat.str-el

A simplified method for the computation of correlation effects on the band structure of semiconductors

We present a simplified computational scheme in order to calculate the effects of electron correlations on the energy bands of diamond and silicon. By adopting a quasiparticle picture we compute first the relaxation and polarization effects around an electron set into a conduction band Wannier orbital. This is done by allowing the valence orbitals to relax within a self-consistent field (SCF) calculation. The diagonal matrix element of the Hamiltonian leads to a shift of the center of gravity of the conduction band while the off-diagonal matrix elements result in a small reduction of the conduction-electron band width. This calculation is supplemented by the computation of the loss of ground state correlations due to the blocked Wannier orbital into which the added electron has been placed. The same procedure applies to the removal of an electron, i.e., to the valence bands. But the latter have been calculated previously in some detail and previous results are used in order to estimate the energy gap in the two materials. The numerical data reported here shows that the methods works, in principle, but that also some extension of the scheme is necessary to obtain fully satisfactory results.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Ab initio Green's function formalism for band structures

Using the Green's function formalism, an ab initio theory for band structures of crystals is derived starting from the Hartree-Fock approximation. It is based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme for the self-energy which is formulated for crystal orbitals (CO-ADC). In this approach, the poles of the Green's function are determined by solving a suitable Hermitian eigenvalue problem. The method is not only applicable to the outer valence and conduction bands, it is also stable for inner valence bands where strong electron correlations are effective. The key to the proposed scheme is to evaluate the self-energy in terms of Wannier orbitals before transforming it to a crystal momentum representation. Exploiting the fact that electron correlations are mainly local, one can truncate the lattice summations by an appropriate configuration selection scheme. This yields a flat configuration space; i.e., its size scales only linearly with the number of atoms per unit cell for large systems and, under certain conditions, the computational effort to determine band structures also scales linearly. As a first application of the new formalism, a lithium fluoride crystal has been chosen. A minimal basis set description is studied, and a satisfactory agreement with previous theoretical and experimental results for the fundamental band gap and the width of the F 2p valence band complex is obtained.

cond-mat.other

Kink Structure in the Quasiparticle Band of Doped Hubbard Systems

By making use of the self-consistent projection operator method with high-momentum and high-energy resolutions, we find a kink structure in the quasiparticle excitation spectrum of the two-dimensional Hubbard model in the underdoped regime. The kink is caused by a mixing between the quasiparticle state and excitations with short-range antiferromagnetic order. We suggest that this might be the origin of the strong concentration dependence of the 'kink' found in La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} (x=0.03-0.07).

cond-mat.supr-con

Ab-Initio Calculation of the Metal-Insulator Transition in Lithium rings

We study how the Mott metal-insulator transition (MIT) is affected when we have to deal with electrons with different angular momentum quantum numbers. For that purpose we apply ab-initio quantum-chemical methods to lithium rings in order to investigate the analogue of a MIT. By changing the interatomic distance we analyse the character of the many-body wavefunction and discuss the importance of the $s-p$ orbital quasi-degeneracy within the metallic regime. The charge gap (ionization potential minus electron affinity) shows a minimum and the static electric dipole polarizability has a pronounced maximum at a lattice constant where the character of the wavefunction changes from significant $p$ to essentially $s$-type. In addition, we examine rings with bond alternation in order to answer the question under which conditions a Peierls distortion occurs.

cond-mat.str-el

Fractional charges in pyrochlore lattices

A pyrochlore lattice is considered where the average electron number of electrons per site is half--integer, concentrating on the case of exactly half an electron per site. Strong on-site repulsions are assumed, so that all sites are either empty or singly occupied. Where there are in addition strong nearest--neighbour repulsions, a tetrahedron rule comes into effect, as previously suggested for magnetite. We show that in this case, there exist excitations with fractional charge (+/-) e/2. These are intimately connected with the high degeneracy of the ground state in the absence of kinetic energy terms. When an additional electron is inserted into the system, it decays into two point like excitations with charge -e/2, connected by a Heisenberg spin chain which carries the electron's spin.

cond-mat.str-el

Parity Effects in Stacked Nanoscopic Quantum Rings

The ground state and the dielectric response of stacked quantum rings are investigated in the presence of an applied magnetic field along the ring axis. For odd number $N$ of rings and an electric field perpendicular to the axis, a linear Stark effect occurs at distinct values of the magnetic field. At those fields energy levels cross in the absence of electric field. For even values of $N$ a quadratic Stark effect is expected in all cases, but the induced electric polarization is discontinuous at those special magnetic fields. Experimental consequences for related nanostructures are discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Correlated Persistent Tunneling Currents in Glasses

Low temperature properties of glasses are derived within a generalized tunneling model, considering the motion of charged particles on a closed path in a double-well potential. The presence of a magnetic induction field B violates the time reversal invariance due to the Aharonov-Bohm phase, and leads to flux periodic energy levels. At low temperature, this effect is shown to be strongly enhanced by dipole-dipole and elastic interactions between tunneling systems and becomes measurable. Thus, the recently observed strong sensitivity of the electric permittivity to weak magnetic fields can be explained. In addition, superimposed oscillations as a function of the magnetic field are predicted.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Pre-K-Edge Structure on Anomalous X-Ray Scattering in LaMnO3

We study the pre-K-edge structure of the resonant X-ray scattering for forbidden reflections (anomalous scattering) in LaMnO3, using the band calculation based on the local density approximation. We find a two-peak structure with an intensity approximately 1/100 of that of the main peak. This originates from a mixing of 4p states of Mn to 3d states of neighboring Mn sites. The effect is enhanced by an interference with the tail of the main peak. The effect of the quadrupole transition is found to be one order of magnitude smaller than that of the dipole transition, modifying slightly the azimuthal-angle dependence.

cond-mat.str-el

Dielectric response of cylindrical nanostructures in a magnetic field

We study the magnetic field dependence of the dielectric response of large cylindrical molecules such as nanotubes. When a field-induced level crossing takes place, an applied electric field causes a linear instead of the usual quadratic Stark effect. This results in a large dielectric response. Explicit calculations are performed for doped nanotubes and a rich structure in the real part of the low-frequency dielectric function $ε'(H)$ is found when a magnetic field is applied along the cylinder axis. It is suggested that studies of $ε'(H, T)$ can serve as a spectroscopic tool for the investigation of large ring-shaped or cylindrical molecules.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Low Energy Excitations of Yb4As3 in a Magnetic Field

We discuss the effects of an applied magnetic field on the low energy excitations in the low temperature phase of Yb4As3. We show also why the magnetic interaction of the Yb{3+} ions is nearly of an isotropic Heisenberg spin-1/2 type. A small anisotropy due to an intrachain dipolar interaction leads to the opening of a gap when a magnetic field is applied. The model agrees with available experimental data. Simple experiments are suggested in order to further test the present theory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Wavefunction-based correlated ab initio calculations on crystalline solids

We present a wavefunction-based approach to correlated ab initio calculations on crystalline insulators of infinite extent. It uses the representation of the occupied and the unoccupied (virtual) single-particle states of the infinite solid in terms of Wannier functions. Electron correlation effects are evaluated by considering virtual excitations from a small region in and around the reference cell, keeping the electrons of the rest of the infinite crystal frozen at the Hartree-Fock level. The method is applied to study the ground state properties of the LiH crystal, and is shown to yield rapidly convergent results.

cond-mat

Spin Flip Torsion Balance

The spin flip of the conduction electrons at the interface of a ferromagnetic and a nonmagnetic part of a metallic wire, suspended between two electrodes, is shown to tort the wire when a current is driven through it. In order to enhance the effect it is suggested to use an alternating current in resonance with the torsional oscillations. Thereby the magnetic polarization of the conduction electrons in the ferromagnet can be measured directly, and compared to the total magnetization. This may yield new information on the transport properties of the narrow band electrons in itinerant ferromagnets.

cond-mat.str-el