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Thomas Schäfer

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Schäfer.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2021

Tracking the Footprints of Spin Fluctuations: A MultiMethod, MultiMessenger Study of the Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

The Hubbard model represents the fundamental model for interacting quantum systems and electronic correlations. Using the two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model at weak coupling as a testing ground, we perform a comparative study of a comprehensive set of state of the art quantum many-body methods. Upon cooling into its insulating antiferromagnetic ground-state, the model hosts a rich sequence of distinct physical regimes with crossovers between a high-temperature incoherent regime, an intermediate temperature metallic regime and a low-temperature insulating regime with a pseudogap created by antiferromagnetic fluctuations. We assess the ability of each method to properly address these physical regimes and crossovers through the computation of several observables probing both quasiparticle properties and magnetic correlations, with two numerically exact methods (diagrammatic and determinantal quantum Monte Carlo) serving as a benchmark. By combining computational results and analytical insights, we elucidate the nature and role of spin fluctuations in each of these regimes. Based on this analysis, we explain how quasiparticles can coexist with increasingly long-range antiferromagnetic correlations, and why dynamical mean-field theory is found to provide a remarkably accurate approximation of local quantities in the metallic regime. We also critically discuss whether imaginary time methods are able to capture the non-Fermi liquid singularities of this fully nested system.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2021

Fingerprints of the local moment formation and its Kondo screening in the generalized susceptibilities of many-electron problems

We identify the precise hallmarks of the local magnetic moment formation and its Kondo screening in the frequency structure of the generalized charge susceptibility. The sharpness of our identification even pinpoints an alternative criterion to determine the Kondo temperature of strongly correlated systems on the two-particle level, which only requires calculations at the lowest Matsubara frequency. We showcase its strength by applying it to the single impurity and the periodic Anderson model as well as to the Hubbard model. Our results represent a significant progress for the general understanding of quantum field theory at the two-particle level and allow for tracing the limits of the physics captured by perturbative approaches in correlated regimes.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

Anisotropy of electronic correlations: On the applicability of local theories to layered materials

Besides the chemical constituents, it is the lattice geometry that controls the most important material properties. In many interesting compounds, the arrangement of elements leads to pronounced anisotropies, which reflect into a varying degree of quasi two-dimensionality of their low-energy excitations. Here, we start by classifying important families of correlated materials according to a simple measure for the tetragonal anisotropy of their ab initio electronic (band) structure. Second, we investigate the impact of a progressively large anisotropy in driving the non-locality of many-body effects. To this end, we tune the Hubbard model from isotropic cubic in three dimensions to the two-dimensional limit and analyze it using the dynamical vertex approximation. For sufficiently isotropic hoppings, we find the self-energy to be well separable into a static non-local and a dynamical local contribution. While the latter could potentially be obtained from dynamical mean-field approaches, we find the former to be non-negligible in all cases. Further, by increasing the model-anisotropy, we quantify the degree of quasi two-dimensionality which causes this "space-time separation" to break down. Our systematic analysis improves the general understanding of electronic correlations in anisotropic materials, heterostructures and ultra-thin films, and provides useful guidance for future realistic studies.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

Real-space cluster dynamical mean-field theory: Center focused extrapolation on the one- and two particle level

We revisit the cellular dynamical mean-field theory (CDMFT) for the single band Hubbard model on the square lattice at half filling, reaching real-space cluster sizes of up to 9 x 9 sites. Using benchmarks against direct lattice diagrammatic Monte Carlo at high temperature, we show that the self-energy obtained from a cluster center focused extrapolation converges faster with the cluster size than the periodization schemes previously introduced in the literature. The same benchmark also shows that the cluster spin susceptibility can be extrapolated to the exact result at large cluster size, even though its spatial extension is larger than the cluster size.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2019

Towards a background-free neutrinoless double beta decay experiment based on a fluorescent bicolor sensor

Searching for neutrinoless double beta decays ($β\beta0ν$) is the only practical way to establish if the neutrinos are their own antiparticles. Due to the smallness of neutrino masses, the lifetime of $β\beta0ν$ is expected to be at least ten orders of magnitude smaller than the noise associated with the natural radioactive chains. A positive identification of $β\beta0ν$ decays requires, ultimately, finding a signal that cannot be mimicked by radioactive backgrounds. This signal could be the observation of the daughter atom in the decay, since no known background processes induce a Z+2 transformation. In particular, the $β\beta0ν$ decay of Xe-136 could be established by detecting the doubly ionised daughter atom, Ba$^{2+}$. Such a detection could be achieved via a sensor made of a monolayer of molecular indicators. The Ba$^{2+}$ would be captured by one of the molecules in the sensor, and the presence of the single chelated indicator would be subsequently revealed by a strong fluorescent response from repeated interrogation with a laser system. Here we describe a fluorescent bicolor indicator that binds strongly to Ba$^{2+}$ and shines very brightly, shifting its emission colour from green to blue when chelated in dry medium, thus allowing the unambiguous identification of single barium atoms in the sensor, and permitting a positive identification of the $β\beta0ν$ decay of Xe-136 in a gas chamber, that could led to a background-free experiment.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2019

Why the critical temperature of high-$T_{\rm c}$ cuprate superconductors is so low: The importance of the dynamical vertex structure

To fathom the mechanism of high-temperature ($T_{\rm c}$) superconductivity, the dynamical vertex approximation (D$Γ$A) is evoked for the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model. After showing that our results well reproduce the cuprate phase diagram with a reasonable $T_{\rm c}$ and dome structure, we keep track of the scattering processes that primarily affect $T_{\rm c}$. We find that local particle-particle diagrams significantly screen the bare interaction at low frequencies, which in turn suppresses antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and hence the pairing interaction. Thus we identify dynamical vertex corrections as one of the main oppressors of $T_{\rm c}$, which may provide a hint toward higher $T_{\rm c}$'s.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2016

Momentum structure of the self-energy and its parametrization for the two-dimensional Hubbard model

We compute the self-energy for the half-filled Hubbard model on a square lattice using lattice quantum Monte Carlo simulations and the dynamical vertex approximation. The self-energy is strongly momentum dependent, but it can be parametrized via the non-interacting energy-momentum dispersion $\varepsilon_{\mathbf{k}}$, except for pseudogap features right at the Fermi edge. That is, it can be written as $Σ(\varepsilon_{\mathbf{k}},ω)$, with two energy-like parameters ($\varepsilon$, $ω$) instead of three ($k_x$, $k_y$ and $ω$). The self-energy has two rather broad and weakly dispersing high energy features and a sharp $ω= \varepsilon_{\mathbf{k}}$ feature at high temperatures, which turns to $ω= -\varepsilon_{\mathbf{k}}$ at low temperatures. Altogether this yields a Z- and reversed-Z-like structure, respectively, for the imaginary part of $Σ(\varepsilon_{\mathbf{k}},ω)$. We attribute the change of the low energy structure to antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations.

cond-mat.str-el↗