arXiv subjects

Piers Coleman

Publications and source records attributed to Piers Coleman.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Luttinger sum rules and spin fractionalization in the SU(N) Kondo Lattice

We show how Oshikawa's theorem for the Fermi surface volume of the Kondo lattice can be extended to the SU$(N)$ symmetric case. By extending the theorem, we are able to show that the mechanism of Fermi surface expansion seen in the large $N$ mean-field theory is directly linked to the expansion of the Fermi surface in a spin-$1/2$ Kondo lattice. This linkage enables us to interpret the expansion of the Fermi surface in a Kondo lattice as a fractionalization of the local moments into heavy electrons. Our method allows extension to a pure U(1) spin liquid, where we find the volume of the spinon Fermi surface by applying a spin-twist, analogous to Oshikawa's flux insertion. Lastly, we discuss the possibility of interpreting the FL$^*$ phase characterised by a small Fermi surface in the absence of symmetry breaking, as a non-topological coexistence of such a U(1) spin liquid and an electronic Fermi liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Emergent moments in a Hund's impurity

Motivated by the relevance of Hund's coupling in the context of multiorbital superconductors, we revisit the problem of a multiorbital Kondo impurity with Hund's interaction. Using dynamical large-N techniques, we propose an efficient approach that retains the essential physics at play, while providing a pathway to scalable quantum impurity solvers. We are able to follow the ground state, dynamic, and thermodynamic properties of this system over many decades of temperature. Our approach captures the emergence of large moments, and follows the stretched evolution of the physics down to their exponentially suppressed Kondo temperature. We focus our analysis on the intermediate finite temperature phase which presents an alternate paramagnetic state due to the emergent moment, and discuss the relevance of this regime to Hund's metals.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Spin magnetometry as a probe of stripe superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene

The discovery of alternating superconducting and insulating ground-states in magic angle graphene has suggested an intriguing analogy with cuprate high-$T_c$ materials. Here we argue that the network states of small angle twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) afford a further perspective on the cuprates by emulating their stripe-ordered phases, as in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$. We show that the spin and valley quantum numbers of stripes in TBG graphene fractionalize, developing characteristic signatures in the tunneling density of states and the magnetic noise spectrum of impurity spins. By examining the coupling between the charge rivers we determine the superconducting transition temperature. Our study suggests that magic angle graphene can be used for a controlled emulation of stripe superconductivity and quantum sensing experiments of emergent anyonic excitations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

The Triplet Resonating Valence Bond State and Superconductivity in Hund's Metals

A central idea in strongly correlated systems is that doping a Mott insulator leads to a superconductor by transforming the resonating valence bonds (RVBs) into spin-singlet Cooper pairs. Here, we argue that a spin-triplet RVB (tRVB) state, driven by spatially, or orbitally anisotropic ferromagnetic interactions can provide the parent state for triplet superconductivity. We apply this idea to the iron-based superconductors, arguing that strong onsite Hund's interactions develop intra-atomic tRVBs between the t$_{2g}$ orbitals. On doping, the presence of two iron atoms per unit cell allows these inter-orbital triplets to coherently delocalize onto the Fermi surface, forming a fully gapped triplet superconductor. This mechanism gives rise to a unique staggered structure of onsite pair correlations, detectable as an alternating $π$ phase shift in a scanning tunnelling Josephson microscope.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Strange metal behavior in a pure ferromagnetic Kondo lattice

The strange metal phases found to develop in a wide range of materials near a quantum critical point (QCP), have posed a long-standing mystery. The frequent association of strange metals with unconventional superconductivity and antiferromagnetic QCPs has led to a belief that they are highly entangled quantum states. Ferromagnets, by contrast are regarded as an unlikely setting for strange metals, for they are weakly entangled and their QCPs are often interrupted by competing phases or first order phase transitions. Here, we provide compelling evidence that the stoichiometric heavy fermion ferromagnet CeRh$_6$Ge$_4$ becomes a strange metal at a pressure-induced QCP: specific heat and resistivity measurements demonstrate that the FM transition is continuously suppressed to zero temperature revealing a strange metal phase. We argue that strong magnetic anisotropy plays a key role in this process,injecting entanglement, in the form of triplet resonating valence bonds (tRVBs) into the ordered ferromagnet. We show that the singular transformation from tRVBs into Kondo singlets that occurs at the QCP causes a jump in the Fermi surface volume: a key driver of strange metallic behavior. Our results open up a new direction for research into FM quantum criticality, while also establishing an important new setting for the strange metal problem. Most importantly, strange metallic behavior at a FM quantum critical point suggests that it is quantum entanglement rather than the destruction of antiferromagnetism that is the common driver of the many varied examples of strange metallic behavior.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Large-N Approach to the Two-Channel Kondo Lattice

This paper studies the two-channel Kondo lattice in the large-N limit at half-filling. In this model, the continuous channel-symmetry is spontaneously broken, forming a channel ferromagnet in which one conduction channel forms a Kondo insulator, while the other remains conducting. The paper discusses how this ground-state can be understood using the concept of "order fractionalization", in which the channel magnetization breaks up into an emergent spinor order parameter. By integrating out the fermions we derive an effective action that describes this symmetry breaking and its emergent collective modes. A remarkable observation is that topological defects in the order parameter carry a U(1) flux, manifested in the Aharonov-Bohm phase picked by electrons that orbit the defect. By studying the effective action, we argue that the phase diagram contains a non-magnetic transition between a large and a small Fermi surface.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Emergent Charge Fluctuations at the Kondo Breakdown of Heavy Fermions

One of the challenges in strongly correlated electron systems, is to understand the anomalous electronic behavior that develops at an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (QCP), a phenomenon that has been extensively studied in heavy fermion materials. Current theories have focused on the critical spin fluctuations and associated break-down of the Kondo effect. Here we argue that the abrupt change in Fermi surface volume that accompanies heavy fermion criticality leads to critical charge fluctuations. Using a model one dimensional Kondo lattice in which each moment is connected to a separate conduction bath, we show a Kondo breakdown transition develops between a heavy Fermi liquid and a gapped spin liquid via a QCP with ω/T scaling, which features a critical charge mode directly associated with the break-up of Kondo singlets. We discuss the possible implications of this emergent charge mode for experiment.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Energy Scales of the Doped Anderson Lattice Model

This paper explores the energy scales of the doped Anderson lattice model using dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), using a continuous-time Quantum Monte Carlo (CTQMC) impurity solver. We show that the low temperature properties of the lattice can not be scaled using the single ion local Kondo temperature $T_K$ but instead are governed by a doping-dependent coherence temperature $T*$ which can be used to scale the temperature dependence of the spectral function, transport properties, and entropy. At half filling $T*$ closely approximates the single ion $T_K$, but as the filling $n_c$ is reduced to zero, $T*$ also vanishes. The coherence temperature $T*$ is shown to play a role of effective impurity Kondo temperature in the lattice model, and physical observables show significant evolution at $T*$. In the DMFT framework, we showed that the hybridization strength of the effective impurity model is qualitatively affected by the doping level, and determines $T*$ in the lattice model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

The Coulomb problem in iron based superconductors

We discuss the role of strong Coulomb interactions in iron-based superconductors (FeSCs). The presumed $s^{\pm}$ character of these superconductors means that the condensate is not symmetry protected against Coulomb repulsion. Remarkably, the transition temperatures and the excitation gap are quite robust across the large family of iron based superconductors, despite drastic changes in Fermi surface geometry. The Coulomb problem is to understand how these superconductors avoid the strong onsite Coulomb interaction at the iron atoms, while maintaining a robust transition temperature. Within the dominant space of $t_{2g}$ orbitals, on-site repulsion in the FeSCs enforces two linearly independent components of the condensate to vanish. This raises the possibility that iron-based superconductors might adapt their condensate to the Coulomb constraints by rotating the pairing state within the large manifold of entangled, extended s-wave gap functions with different orbital and momentum space structure. We examine this "orbital and k-space flexibility" (OKF) mechanism using both Landau theory and microscopic calculations within a multi-orbital t-J model. Based on our results, we conclude that OKF necessitates a large condensate degeneracy. One interesting possibility raised by our results, is that a resolution to the Coulomb problem in FeSC might require a reconsideration of triplet pairing.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Crystalline symmetry protected helical Majorana modes in the iron pnictides

We propose that propagating one-dimensional Majorana fermions will develop in the vortex cores of certain iron-based superconductors, most notably Li(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)As. A key ingredient of this proposal are the 3D Dirac cones recently observed in ARPES experiments [P. Zhang et al., Nat. Phys. $\textbf{15}$, 41 (2019)]. Using an effective Hamiltonian around the $Γ-Z$ line we demonstrate the development of gapless one-dimensional helical Majorana modes, protected by $C_4$ symmetry. A topological index is derived which links the helical Majorana modes to the presence of monopoles in the Berry curvature of the normal state. We present various experimental consequences of this theory and discuss its possible connections with cosmic strings.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Order Fractionalization

The confluence of quantum mechanics and complexity, which leads to the emergence of rich, exotic states of matter, motivates the extension of our concepts of quantum ordering. The twin concepts of spontaneously broken symmetry, described in terms of a Landau order parameter, and of off-diagonal long-range order (ODLRO), are fundamental to our understanding of phases of matter. In electronic matter it has long been assumed that Landau order parameters involve an even number of electron fields, with integer spin and even charge, that are bosons. On the other hand, in low-dimensional magnetism, operators are known to fractionalize so that the excitations carry spin-1/2. Motivated by experiment, mean-field theory and computational results, we extend the concept of ODLRO into the time domain, proposing that in a broken symmetry state, quantum operators can fractionalize into half-integer order parameters. Using numerical renormalization group studies we show how such fractionalized order can be induced in quantum impurity models. We then conjecture that such order develops spontaneously in lattice quantum systems, due to positive feedback, leading to a new family of phases, manifested by a coincidence of broken symmetry and fractionalized excitations that can be detected by experiment.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Intertwined Superfluid and Density Wave Order in a $p$-Orbital Bose Condensate

We study a continuum model of the weakly interacting Bose gas in the presence of an external field with minima forming a triangular lattice. The second lowest band of the single-particle spectrum ($p$-band) has three minima at non-zero momenta. We consider a metastable Bose condensate at these momenta and find that, in the presence of interactions that vary slowly over the lattice spacing, the order parameter space is isomorphic to $S^{5}$. We show that the enlarged symmetry leads to the loss of topologically stable vortices, as well as two extra gapless modes with quadratic dispersion. The former feature implies that this non-Abelian condensate is a "failed superfluid" that does not undergo a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition. Order-by-disorder splitting appears suppressed, implying that signatures of the $S^5$ manifold ought to be observable at low temperatures.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Renormalization group analysis for the quasi-1D superconductor BaFe$_2$S$_3$

Motivated by the discovery of superconductivity in the two-leg, quasi-one dimensional ladder compound, BaFe$_2$S$_3$ we present a renormalization group study of electrons moving on a two leg, two orbital ladder, subjected to Hubbard repulsion $U$ and Hund's coupling $J$. In our calculations, we adopt tightbinding parameters obtained from ab-initio studies on this material. At incommensurate filling, the long wavelength analysis displays four phases as a function of $0 \leq J/U <1$. We show that a fully gapped superconductor is stabilized at sufficiently large Hund's coupling, the relative phases at the three Fermi points are "+,-,-". By contrast, when the system is tuned to half filling, Umklapp scattering gives rise to Mott insulating phases. We discuss the general implications of our study for the broad class of iron-based superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Quantum Annealed Criticality

Experimentally there exist many materials with first-order phase transitions at finite temperature that display quantum criticality. Classically a strain-energy density coupling is known to drive first-order transitions in compressible systems, and here we generalize this Larkin-Pikin mechanism to the quantum case. We show that if the T=0 system lies above its upper critical dimension, the line of first-order transitions can end in a quantum annealed critical point where zero-point fluctuations restore the underlying criticality of the order parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Parity-violating hybridization in heavy Weyl semimetals

We introduce a simple model to describe the formation of heavy Weyl semimetals in non-centrosymmetric heavy fermion compounds under the influence of a parity-mixing, onsite hybridization. A key aspect of interaction-driven heavy Weyl semimetals is the development of surface Kondo breakdown, which is expected to give rise to a temperature-dependent re-configuration of the Fermi arcs and the Weyl cyclotron orbits which connect them via the chiral bulk states. Our theory predicts a strong temperature dependent transformation in the quantum oscillations at low temperatures. In addition to the effects of surface Kondo breakdown, the renormalization effects in heavy Weyl semimetals will appear in a variety of thermodynamic and transport measurements.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Emergence and Reductionism: an awkward Baconian alliance

This article discusses the relationship between emergence and reductionism from the perspective of a condensed matter physicist. Reductionism and emergence play an intertwined role in the everyday life of the physicist, yet we rarely stop to contemplate their relationship: indeed, the two are often regarded as conflicting world-views of science. I argue that in practice, they compliment one-another, forming an awkward alliance in a fashion envisioned by the Renaissance scientist, Francis Bacon. Looking at the historical record in classical and quantum physics, I discuss how emergence fits into a reductionist view of nature. Often, a deep understanding of reductionist physics depends on the understanding of its emergent consequences. Thus the concept of energy was unknown to Newton, Leibnitz, Lagrange or Hamilton, because they did not understand heat. Similarly, the understanding of the weak force awaited an understanding of the Meissner effect in superconductivity. Emergence can thus be likened to an encrypted consequence of reductionism. Taking examples from current research, including topological insulators and strange metals, I show that the convection between emergence and reductionism continues to provide a powerful driver for frontier scientific research, linking the lab with the cosmos.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2017

Model for Ferromagnetic Quantum Critical Point in a 1D Kondo Lattice

Motivated by recent experiments, we study a quasi-one dimensional model of a Kondo lattice with Ferromagnetic coupling between the spins. Using bosonization and dynamical large-N techniques we establish the presence of a Fermi liquid and a magnetic phase separated by a local quantum critical point, governed by the Kondo breakdown picture. Thermodynamic properties are studied and a gapless charged mode at the quantum critical point is highlighted.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Implications of the Measured Angular Anisotropy at the Hidden Order Transition of URu2Si2

The heavy fermion compound URu2Si2 continues to attract great interest due to the long- unidentified nature of the hidden order that develops below 17.5K. Here we discuss the implications of an angular survey of the linear and nonlinear susceptibility of URu2Si2 in the vicinity of the hidden order transition. While the anisotropic nature of spin fluctuations and low-temperature quasiparticles was previously established, our recent results suggest that the order parameter itself has intrinsic Ising anisotropy, and that moreover this anisotropy extends far above the hidden order transition. Consistency checks and subsequent questions for future experimental and theoretical studies of hidden order are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗