arXiv subjects

T. A. Maier

Publications and source records attributed to T. A. Maier.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Fluctuating charge-density-wave correlations in the three-band Hubbard model

The high-temperature superconducting cuprates host unidirectional spin- and charge-density-wave orders that can intertwine with superconductivity in non-trivial ways. While the charge components of these stripes have now been observed in nearly all cuprate families, their detailed evolution with doping varies across different materials and at high and low temperatures. We address this problem using non-perturbative determinant quantum Monte Carlo calculations for the three-band Hubbard model. Using an efficient implementation, we can resolve the model's fluctuating spin and charge modulations and map their evolution as a function of the charge transfer energy and doping. We find that the incommensurability of the charge modulations is decoupled from the spin modulations and decreases with hole doping, consistent with experimental measurements at high temperatures. These findings support the proposal that the high-temperature charge correlations are distinct from the intertwined stripe order observed at low-temperature and in the single-band Hubbard model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Evidence for chiral superconductivity on a silicon surface

Sn adatoms on a Si(111) substrate with 1/3 monolayer coverage form a two-dimensional triangular adatom lattice with one unpaired electron per site and an antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state. The Sn layers can be modulation hole-doped and metallized using heavily-doped $p$-type Si(111) substrates, and become superconducting at low temperatures. While the pairing symmetry of the superconducting state is currently unknown, the combination of repulsive interactions and frustration inherent to the triangular adatom lattice opens up the possibility for a chiral order parameter. Here, we study the superconducting state of Sn/Si(111) using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and quasi-particle interference imaging. We find evidence for a doping-dependent $T_c$ with a fully gapped order parameter, the presence of time-reversal symmetry breaking, and a strong enhancement of the zero-bias conductance near the edges of the superconducting domains. While each individual piece of evidence could have a more mundane interpretation, our combined results suggest the tantalizing possibility that Sn/Si(111) is an unconventional chiral d-wave superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Leading superconducting instabilities in three-dimensional models for Sr2RuO4

The superconductor Sr2RuO4 has been the subject of enormous interest over more than two decades, but until now the form of its order parameter has not been determined. Since groundbreaking NMR experiments revealed that the pairs are of dominant spin-singlet character, attention has focused on time-reversal symmetry breaking linear combinations of $s$-, $d$- and $g$-wave one-dimensional (1D) irreducible representations. However, a state of the form $d_{xz}+id_{yz}$ has also been proposed. We present a systematic study of the stability of various superconducting candidate states, assuming that pairing is driven by the fluctuation exchange mechanism, including a realistic three-dimensional Fermi surface, full treatment of both local and non-local spin-orbit couplings, and a wide range of interaction parameters $U,J,U',J'$. The leading superconducting instabilities are found to exhibit nodal even-parity $A_{1g} (s')$ or $B_{1g} (d_{x^2-y^2})$ symmetries, similar to the findings in two-dimensional models without longer-range Coulomb interaction which tends to favor $d_{xy}$ over $d_{x^2-y^2}$. Within the so-called Hund's coupling mean-field pairing scenario, the $E_g (d_{xz}/d_{yz})$ solution can be stabilized for large $J$ and specific forms of the spin-orbit coupling, but for all cases studied here the eigenvalues of other superconducting solutions are significantly larger when the full fluctuation exchange vertex is included in the pairing kernel. Additionally, we compute the spin susceptibility in relevant superconducting candidate phases and compare to recent neutron scattering and NMR Knight shift measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Evolution of spin excitations from bulk to monolayer FeSe

The discovery of enhanced superconductivity (SC) in FeSe films grown on SrTiO3 (FeSe/STO) has revitalized the field of Fe-based superconductors. In the ultrathin limit, the superconducting transition temperature Tc is increased by almost an order of magnitude, raising new questions on the pairing mechanism. As in other unconventional superconductors, antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations have been proposed as a candidate to mediate SC in this system. Thus, it is essential to study the evolution of the spin dynamics of FeSe in the ultrathin limit to elucidate their relationship with superconductivity. Here, we investigate and compare the spin excitations in bulk and monolayer FeSe grown on STO using high-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations. Despite the absence of long-range magnetic order, bulk FeSe displays dispersive magnetic excitations reminiscent of other Fe-pnictides. Conversely, the spin excitations in FeSe/STO are gapped, dispersionless, and significantly hardened relative to the bulk counterpart. By comparing our RIXS results with simulations of a bilayer Hubbard model, we connect the evolution of the spin excitations to the Fermiology of the two systems. The present study reveals a remarkable reconfiguration of spin excitations in FeSe/STO, which is essential to understand the role of spin fluctuations in the pairing mechanism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Doping evolution of charge and spin excitations in two-leg Hubbard ladders: comparing DMRG and RPA+FLEX results

We study the magnetic and charge dynamical response of a Hubbard model in a two-leg ladder geometry using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method and the random phase approximation within the fluctuation-exchange approximation (RPA+FLEX). Our calculations reveal that RPA+FLEX can capture the main features of the magnetic response from weak up to intermediate Hubbard repulsion for doped ladders, when compared with the numerically exact DMRG results. However, while at weak Hubbard repulsion both the spin and charge spectra can be understood in terms of weakly-interacting electron-hole excitations across the Fermi surface, at intermediate coupling DMRG shows gapped spin excitations at large momentum transfer that remain gapless within the RPA+FLEX approximation. For the charge response, RPA+FLEX can only reproduce the main features of the DMRG spectra at weak coupling and high doping levels, while it shows an incoherent character away from this limit. Overall, our analysis shows that RPA+FLEX works surprisingly well for spin excitations at weak and intermediate Hubbard $U$ values even in the difficult low-dimensional geometry such as a two-leg ladder. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for neutron scattering and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering experiments on two-leg ladder cuprate compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Disordered Supersolids in the Extended Bose-Hubbard Model

The extended Bose-Hubbard model captures the essential properties of a wide variety of physical systems including ultracold atoms and molecules in optical lattices, Josephson junction arrays, and certain narrow band superconductors. It exhibits a rich phase diagram including a supersolid phase where a lattice solid coexists with a superfluid. We use quantum Monte Carlo to study the supersolid part of the phase diagram of the extended Bose-Hubbard model on the simple cubic lattice. We add disorder to the extended Bose-Hubbard model and find that the maximum critical temperature for the supersolid phase tends to be suppressed by disorder. But we also find a narrow parameter window in which the supersolid critical temperature is enhanced by disorder. Our results show that supersolids survive a moderate amount of spatial disorder and thermal fluctuations in the simple cubic lattice.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2017

Structure of spin excitations in heavily electron-doped Li0.8Fe0.2ODFeSe superconductors

Heavily electron-doped iron-selenide (HEDIS) high-transition-temperature (high-$T_{\rm{c}}$) superconductors, which have no hole Fermi pockets, but have a notably high $T_{\rm{c}}$, have challenged the prevailing $s$$_\pm$ pairing scenario originally proposed for iron pnictides containing both electron and hole pockets. The microscopic mechanism underlying the enhanced superconductivity in HEDIS remains unclear. Here, we used neutron scattering to study the spin excitations of the HEDIS material Li$_{0.8}$Fe$_{0.2}$ODFeSe ($T_{\rm{c}}$ = 41 K). Our data revealed nearly ring-shaped magnetic resonant excitations surrounding ($π$, $π$) at $\sim$ 21 meV. As the energy increased, the spin excitations assumed a diamond shape, and they dispersed outward until the energy reached $\sim$ 60 meV and then inward at higher energies. The observed energy-dependent momentum structure and twisted dispersion of spin excitations near ($π$, $π$) are analogous to those of hole-doped cuprates in several aspects, thus implying that such spin excitations are essential for the remarkably high $T_{\rm{c}}$ in these materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

d-wave superconductivity in the presence of a near neighbor Coulomb repulsion

Dynamic cluster quantum Monte Carlo calculations for a doped two-dimensional extended Hubbard model are used to study the stability and dynamics of $d$-wave pairing when a near neighbor Coulomb repulsion $V$ is present in addition to the on-site Coulomb repulsion $U$. We find that $d$-wave pairing and the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ are only weakly suppressed as long as $V$ does not exceed $U/2$. This stability is traced to the strongly retarded nature of pairing that allows the $d$-wave pairs to minimize the repulsive effect of $V$. When $V$ approaches $U/2$, large momentum charge fluctuations are found to become important and to give rise to a more rapid suppression of $d$-wave pairing and $T_c$ than for smaller $V$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Itinerant Antiferromagnetism in RuO$_{2}$

Bulk rutile RuO$_2$ has long been considered a Pauli paramagnet. Here we report that RuO$_2$ exhibits a hitherto undetected lattice distortion below approximately 900 K. The distortion is accompanied by antiferromagnetic order up to at least 300 K with a small room temperature magnetic moment of approximately 0.05 $μ_B$ as evidenced by polarized neutron diffraction. Density functional theory plus $U$ (DFT+$U$) calculations indicate that antiferromagnetism is favored even for small values of the Hubbard $U$ of the order of 1 eV. The antiferromagnetism may be traced to a Fermi surface instability, lifting the band degeneracy imposed by the rutile crystal field. The combination of high Néel temperature and small itinerant moments make RuO$_2$ unique among ruthenate compounds and among oxide materials in general.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Probing the pairing interaction and multiple Bardasis-Schrieffer modes using Raman spectroscopy

In unconventional superconductors, understanding the form of the pairing interaction is the primary goal. In this regard, Raman spectroscopy is a very useful tool, as it identifies the ground state and also the subleading pairing channels by probing collective modes. Here we propose a general theory for multiband Raman response and identify new features in the spectrum that can provide a robust test for a pairing theory. We identify multiple Bardasis-Schrieffer type collective modes and connect the weights of these modes to the sub-leading gap structures within a microscopic pairing theory. The conclusions are completely general, and we apply our approach to interpret the B1g Raman scattering in hole-doped BaFe2As2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Fast and Efficient Stochastic Optimization for Analytic Continuation

The analytic continuation of imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data to extract real-frequency spectra remains a key problem in connecting theory with experiment. Here we present a fast and efficient stochastic optimization method (FESOM) as a more accessible variant of the stochastic optimization method introduced by Mishchenko et al. and benchmark the resulting spectra with those obtained by the standard Maximum Entropy method for three representative test cases, in- cluding data taken from studies of the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We generally find that our FESOM approach gives spectra similar to the Maximum Entropy results. In particular, while the Maximum Entropy method gives superior results when the quality of the data is strong, we find that FESOM is able to resolve fine structure with more detail when the quality of the data is poor. In addition, because of its stochastic nature, the method provides detailed information on the frequency dependent uncertainty of the resulting spectra, while the Maximum Entropy method does so only for the spectral weight integrated over a finite frequency region. We therefore believe that this variant of the stochastic optimization approach provides a viable alternative to the routinely used Maximum Entropy method especially for data with poor quality.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Non-local correlations in the orbital selective Mott phase of a one dimensional multi-orbital Hubbard model

We study non-local correlations in a three-orbital Hubbard model defined on an extended one-dimensional chain using determinant quantum Monte Carlo and density matrix renormalization group methods. We focus on a parameter with robust Hund's coupling, which produces an orbital selective Mott phase (OSMP) at intermediate values of the Hubbard U, as well as an orbitally ordered ferromagnetic insulating state at stronger coupling. An examination of the orbital and spin-correlation functions indicates that the orbital ordering occurs before the onset of magnetic correlations in this parameter regime as a function of temperature. In the OSMP, we find that the self-energy for the itinerant electrons is momentum dependent, indicating a degree of non-local correlations while the localized electrons have largely momentum independent self-energies. These non-local correlations also produce relative shifts of the hole-like and electron-like bands within our model. The overall momentum dependence of these quantities is strongly suppressed in the orbitally-ordered insulating phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Experimental elucidation of the origin of the `double spin resonances' in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$

We report a combined study of the spin resonances and superconducting gaps for underdoped ($T_c=19$ K), optimally doped ($T_c=25$ K), and overdoped ($T_c=19$ K) Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ single crystals with inelastic neutron scattering and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We find a quasi two dimensional spin resonance whose energy scales with the superconducting gap in all three compounds. In addition, anisotropic low energy spin excitation enhancements in the superconducting state have been deduced and characterized for the under and optimally doped compounds. Our data suggest that the quasi two dimensional spin resonance is a spin exciton that corresponds to the spin singlet-triplet excitations of the itinerant electrons. However, the intensity enhancements of the anisotropic spin excitations are dominated by the out-of-plane spin excitations of the ordered moments due to the suppression of damping in the superconducting state. Hence we offer a new interpretation of the double energy scales differing from previous interpretations based on anisotropic superconducting energy gaps, and systematically explain the doping-dependent trend across the phase diagram.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Interlaced coarse-graining for the dynamic cluster approximation

The dynamical cluster approximation (DCA) and its DCA$^+$ extension use coarse-graining of the momentum space to reduce the complexity of quantum many-body problems, thereby mapping the bulk lattice to a cluster embedded in a dynamical mean-field host. Here, we introduce a new form of an interlaced coarse-graining and compare it with the traditional coarse-graining. While it gives a more localized self-energy for a given cluster size, we show that it leads to more controlled results with weaker cluster shape and smoother cluster size dependence, which converge to the results obtained from the standard coarse-graining with increasing cluster size. Most importantly, the new coarse-graining reduces the severity of the fermionic sign problem of the underlying quantum Monte Carlo cluster solver and thus allows for calculations on larger clusters. This enables the treatment of longer-ranged correlations than those accessible with the standard coarse-graining and thus can allow for the evaluation of the exact infinite cluster size result via finite size scaling. As a demonstration, we study the hole-doped two-dimensional Hubbard model and show that the interlaced coarse-graining in combination with the extended DCA$^+$ algorithm permits the determination of the superconducting $T_c$ on cluster sizes for which the results can be fit with a Kosterlitz-Thouless scaling law.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Pairing in the Presence of a Pseudogap

Evidence that the pseudogap (PG) in a near-optimally doped Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+δ}$ sample destroys the BCS logarithmic pairing instability [1] raises again the question of the role of the PG in the high-temperature superconducting cuprates [2]. The elimination of the BCS instability is consistent with the view that the PG competes with superconductivity. However, as noted in [1], the onset of superconductivity with a $T_c \sim 90$ K suggests an alternative scenario in which the PG reflects the formation of short range pairing correlations. Here, we report results obtained from a dynamic cluster quantum Monte Carlo approximation (DCA) for a 2D Hubbard model and conclude that (1) the PG, like the superconductivity, arises due to short-range antiferromagnetic correlations and (2) contrary to the usual case in which the pairing instability arises from the Cooper instability, here, the strength of the spin-fluctuations increases as the temperature decreases leading to the pairing instability.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Pairing symmetry of the one-band Hubbard model in the paramagnetic weak-coupling limit: a numerical RPA study

We study the spin-fluctuation-mediated superconducting pairing gap in a weak-coupling approach to the Hubbard model for a two dimensional square lattice in the paramagnetic state. Performing a comprehensive theoretical study of the phase diagram as a function of filling, we find that the superconducting gap exhibits transitions from p-wave at very low electron fillings to d_{x^2-y^2}-wave symmetry close to half filling in agreement with previous reports. At intermediate filling levels, different gap symmetries appear as a consequence of the changes in the Fermi surface topology and the associated structure of the spin susceptibility. In particular, the vicinity of a van Hove singularity in the electronic structure close to the Fermi level has important consequences for the gap structure in favoring the otherwise sub-dominant triplet solution over the singlet d-wave solution. By solving the full gap equation, we find that the energetically favorable triplet solutions are chiral and break time reversal symmetry. Finally, we also calculate the detailed angular gap structure of the quasi-particle spectrum, and show how spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing leads to significant deviations from the first harmonics both in the singlet d_{x^2-y^2} gap as well as the chiral triplet gap solution.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Glide-Plane Symmetry and Superconducting Gap Structure of Iron-Based Superconductors

We consider the effect of glide-plane symmetry of the Fe-pnictogen/chalcogen layer in Fe-based superconductors on pairing in spin fluctuation models. Recent theories have proposed that so-called $η$-pairing states with nonzero total momentum can be realized and possess exotic properties such as odd parity spin singlet symmetry and time-reversal symmetry breaking. Here we show that $η$ pairing is inevitable when there is orbital weight at the Fermi level from orbitals with even and odd mirror reflection symmetry in $z$; however, by explicit calculation, we conclude that the gap function that appears in observable quantities is identical to that found in earlier, 1 Fe per unit cell pseudocrystal momentum calculations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Pairing interaction near a nematic QCP of a 3-band CuO$_2$ model

Here we calculate the strength of the $d$-wave pairing and the $k$ dependence of the gap function associated with the nematic fluctuations of a CuO$_2$ model as the doping $p$ approaches a quantum critical point. Higher order $d$-wave harmonics contribute to the $k$ dependence of the resulting superconducting gap function reflecting the longer range nature of the nematic pairing interaction.

cond-mat.supr-con↗