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At least 775 records · Page 43

Competing instabilities, orbital ordering, and splitting of band degeneracies from a parquet renormalization group analysis of a four-pocket model for iron-based superconductors: Application to FeSe

Here, we report the results of a parquet renormalization group (RG) study of competing instabilities in the full 2D four-pocket, three-orbital low-energy model for iron-based superconductors. We derive and analyze the RG flow of the couplings, which describes all symmetry-allowed interactions between low-energy fermions. Despite that the number of the couplings is large, we argue that there are only two stable fixed trajectories of the RG flow and one weakly unstable fixed trajectory with a single unstable direction. Each fixed trajectory has a finite basin of attraction in the space of initial system parameters. On the stable trajectories, either interactions involving only d xz and d yz or only d xy orbital components on electron pockets dominate, while on the weakly unstable trajectory interactions involving d xz (d yz ) and d xy orbital states on electron pockets remain comparable. The behavior along the two stable fixed trajectories has been analyzed earlier [Chubukov, Khodas, and Fernandes, Phys. Rev. X 6, 041045 (2016)]. Here we focus on the system behavior along the weakly unstable trajectory and apply the results to FeSe. We find, based on the analysis of susceptibilities along this trajectory, that the leading instability upon lowering the temperature is towards a three-component d -wave orbital nematic order. Two components are the differences between fermionic densities on d xz and d xz and d yz orbitals on hole pockets and on electron pockets, and the third one is the difference between the densities of d xy orbitals on the two electron pockets. We argue that this order is consistent with the splitting of band degeneracies, observed in recent photoemission data on FeSe by Fedorov et al. [Sci. Rep. 6, 36834 (2016)].

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Dense stellar matter with strange quark matter driven by kaon condensation

The core of neutron-star matter is supposed to be at a much higher density than the normal nuclear-matter density, for which various possibilities have been suggested, such as, for example, meson or hyperon condensation and/or deconfined quark or color-superconducting matter. In this work, we explore the implication on hadron physics of a dense compact object that has three ''phases'': nuclear matter at the outer layer, kaon condensed nuclear matter in the middle, and strange quark matter at the core. Using a drastically simplified but not unreasonable model, we develop the scenario where the different phases are smoothly connected with the kaon condensed matter playing a role of a ''doorway'' to a quark core, the equation of state of which with parameters restricted within the range allowed by nature could be made compatible with the mass vs radius constraint given by the 1.97-solar-mass object PSR J1614-2230 recently observed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Low energy properties of the Kondo chain in the RKKY regime

We study the Kondo chain in the regime of high spin concentration where the low energy physics is dominated by the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction. As has been recently shown (Tsvelik and Yevtushenko 2015 Phys. Rev. Lett. 115 216402), this model has two phases with drastically different transport properties depending on the anisotropy of the exchange interaction. In particular, the helical symmetry of the fermions is spontaneously broken when the anisotropy is of the easy plane type. This leads to a parametrical suppression of the localization effects. In the present paper we substantially extend the previous theory, in particular, by analyzing a competition of forward- and backward- scattering, including into the theory short range electron interactions and calculating spin correlation functions. In conclusion, we discuss applicability of our theory and possible experiments which could support the theoretical findings.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Observation of topological surface states and strong electron/hole imbalance in extreme magnetoresistance compound LaBi

The recent discovery of the extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) in the nonmagnetic rare-earth monopnictides La X (X = P, As, Sb, Bi,), a recently proposed new topological semimetal family, has inspired intensive research effort in the exploration of the correlation between the XMR and their electronic structures. Here in this work, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the three-dimensional band structure of LaBi, we unraveled its topologically nontrivial nature with the observation of multiple topological surface Dirac fermions, as supported by our ab initio calculations. Furthermore, we observed substantial imbalance between the volume of electron and hole pockets, which rules out the electron-hole compensation as the primary cause of the XMR in LaBi.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Free energy and specific heat near a quantum critical point of a metal

We analyze the free energy and the specific heat for fermions interacting with a gapless boson at a quantum-critical point (QCP) in a metal. We use the Luttinger-Ward-Eliashberg formula for the free energy in the normal state, which includes contributions from bosons, fermions, and their interaction, all expressed via fully dressed fermionic and bosonic propagators. The sum of the last two contributions is the free energy F γ of an effective low-energy model of fermions with boson-mediated dynamical 4-fermion interaction V(Ω m ) ∝ 1/|Ω m | γ (the γ model). This purely electronic model has been used to analyze the interplay between non-Fermi liquid behavior and pairing near a QCP, which are both independent of the upper energy cutoff Λ. However, the specific heat C γ (T), obtained from F γ , does depend on Λ. We argue that this dependence is spurious and cancels out, once we include the contribution from bosons. We further argue that the full C(T) is the sum of the contribution from free fermions and the one from a critical boson, with the fully dressed propagator, other terms cancel out. We compare the full C(T) with the C γ (T), obtained using recently proposed regularization of F γ . We argue that for γ < 1, the full C(T) and the regularized C γ (T) differ by a γ-dependent prefactor, while for γ > 1, the full C(T) and C γ (T) differ by the positive contribution from free massless fermions (a positive constant for the electron-phonon case γ = 2). For these γ, C γ (T) is negative, but the full C(T) is positive. We argue that only the full C(T) matters as the positive and the negative contributions originate from the term in C(T) which contains the fully dressed bosonic propagator. Here, we then argue that the normal state remains stable until the pairing instability develops.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Charge density wave order, local lattice distortions, and topological electronic states in Nb Te 4

Assessing the atomic and electronic structure of strongly correlated systems in which the crystal symmetry changes due to emergent lattice distortions, such as charge density waves (CDWs), is nontrivial because the distortions are not necessarily amenable to a traditional crystallographic description. Using advance scattering and modeling techniques, we reveal the evolution of the atomic displacement modes behind the CDW phases of quasi-one-dimensional NbTe 4 and also derive the so far unknown atomic structure of its low-temperature commensurate (C) CDW phase. Electronic structure calculations based on the experimental C-CDW structure data predict the existence of Dirac fermions whose multiplicity turns out to depend on the degree of lattice distortions accounted for in the experimental structure derivation. Finally, we argue that the electronic structure of CDW systems in general, and in particular in transition metal tetra-tellurides, can be strongly impacted by local lattice distortions and, therefore, they should be fully accounted for when their rich physics is considered.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Probing transport in quantum many-fermion simulations via quantum loop topography

Quantum many-fermion systems give rise to diverse states of matter that often reveal themselves in distinctive transport properties. While some of these states can be captured by microscopic models accessible to numerical exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations, it nevertheless remains challenging to numerically access their transport properties. Here, we demonstrate that quantum loop topography (QLT) can be used to directly probe transport by machine learning current-current correlations in imaginary time. We showcase this approach by studying the emergence of superconducting fluctuations in the negative-U Hubbard model and a spin-fermion model for a metallic quantum critical point. For both sign-free models, we find that the QLT approach detects a change in transport in very good agreement with their established phase diagrams. Furthermore, these proof-of-principle calculations combined with the numerical efficiency of the QLT approach point a way to identify hitherto elusive transport phenomena such as non-Fermi liquids using machine learning algorithms.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Photoinduced Nonequilibrium Topological States in Strained Black Phosphorus

Black phosphorus (BP), an elemental semiconductor, has attracted tremendous interest because it exhibits a wealth of interesting electronic and optoelectronic properties in equilibrium condition. The nonequilibrium electronic structures of bulk BP under a periodic field of laser remain unexplored, but can lead to intriguing topological optoelectronic properties. Here we show that, under the irradiation of circularly polarized light (CPL), BP exhibits a photon-dressed Floquet-Dirac semimetal state, which can be continuously tuned by changing the direction, intensity, and frequency of the incident laser. The topological phase transition from type-I to type-II Floquet-Dirac fermions manifests a new form of type-III phase, which exists in a wide range of intensities and frequencies of the incident laser. Furthermore, topological surface states exhibit nonequilibrium electron transport in a direction locked by the helicity of CPL. Our findings not only deepen our understanding of fundamental properties of BP in relation to topology but also extend optoelectronic device applications of BP to the nonequilibrium regime.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Monte Carlo Studies of Quantum Critical Metals

Metallic quantum critical phenomena are believed to play a key role in many strongly correlated materials, including high-temperature superconductors. Theoretically, the problem of quantum criticality in the presence of a Fermi surface has proven to be highly challenging. Yet, it has recently been realized that many models used to describe such systems are amenable to numerically exact solution by quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques, without suffering from the fermion sign problem. In this review, we examine the status of the understanding of metallic quantum criticality and the recent progress made by QMC simulations. We focus on the cases of spin-density wave and Ising nematic criticality. We describe the results obtained so far and their implications for superconductivity, non-Fermi liquid behavior, and transport near metallic quantum critical points. Some of the outstanding puzzles and future directions are specified.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Future Directions in Topological States of Matter: Beyond the Single Particle Picture

Correlations between electrons have brought about some of the most celebrated discoveries in quantum materials research, including all forms of superconductivity, the fractional quantum hall effect, and giant magnetoresistance. A more recent development has been the discovery that the topological aspects of electrons are important, producing new states of matter like topological insulators, and Dirac and Weyl fermions. This conference will bring together experts from both the "correlated" and "topological" communities to explore future directions that merge both fields, including emergent physics in the flat bands of twisted bilayer systems, and new routes to quantum computation using topological superconductors and spin liquids. We hope to come away with new research questions, and new material synthesis directions, that will strongly overlap with the Basic Energy Sciences mission to support the fundamental experimental and theoretical quantum materials research.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Electron interactions and Dirac fermions in graphene-Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} superlattices

Graphene based superlattices have been attracted worldwide interest due to the combined properties of the graphene Dirac cone feature and all kinds of advanced functional materials. In this work, we proposed a novel series of graphene-Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} superlattices based on the density functional theory calculations. We demonstrated the stability in terms of energy and lattice dynamics for such kind of artificial materials. The analysis of the electronic structures unravels the gap opening nature at Dirac cone of the insert graphene layer. The Dirac fermions in the graphene layers are strongly affected by the electron spin orbital coupling in the Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} layers. The present results show the possible application in phase-change data storage of such kind of superlattice materials, where the Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} layers exhibit as the phase-change data storage media and the graphene layer works as the electrode, probe, and heat conductor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Simulating Lindbladian evolution with non-Abelian symmetries: Ballistic front propagation in the SU(2) Hubbard model with a localized loss

In this work, we develop a non-Abelian time evolving block decimation (NA-TEBD) approach to study open systems governed by Lindbladian time evolution, while exploiting an arbitrary number of Abelian or non-Abelian symmetries. We illustrate this method in a one-dimensional fermionic SU(2) Hubbard model on a semi-infinite lattice with localized particle loss at one end. We observe a ballistic front propagation with strongly renormalized front velocity, and a hydrodynamic current density profile. For large loss rates, a suppression of the particle current is observed, as a result of the quantum Zeno effect. Operator entanglement is found to propagate faster than the depletion profile, preceding the latter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Superconductivity and charge order of confined Fermi systems

The low-temperature properties of the two-dimensional attractive Hubbard model are strongly influenced by the fermion density. Away from half-filling, there is a finite-temperature transition to a phase with s-wave pairing order. However, T c is suppressed to zero at half-filling, where long-range charge-density-wave order also appears, degenerate with superconductivity. This paper presents determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the attractive Hubbard model in the presence of a confining potential V trap which makes the fermion density ρ inhomogeneous across the lattice. Pair correlations are shown to be large at low temperatures in regions of the trapped system with incommensurate filling, and to exhibit a minimum as the local density ρ(i) passes through one fermion per site. In this ring of ρ(i)=1, charge order is enhanced. A comparison is made between treating V trap within the local-density approximation (LDA) and in an ab initio manner. It is argued that certain sharp features of the LDA result at integer filling do not survive the proximity of doped sites. Lastly, the critical temperature of confined systems of fixed characteristic density is estimated.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Index Theorems, Generalized Hall Currents, and Topology for Gapless Defect Fermions

In this work, we show how the index of the fermion operator from the Euclidean action can be used to uncover the existence of gapless modes living on defects (such as edges and vortices) in topological insulators and superconductors. The 1-loop Feynman diagram that computes the index reveals an analog of the quantum Hall current flowing on and off the defect—even in systems without conserved currents or chiral anomalies—and makes explicit the interplay between topology in momentum and coordinate space. We provide several explicit examples.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Topological spin ordering via Chern-Simons superconductivity

We use the Chern-Simons (CS) fermion representation of $s=1/2$ spin operators to construct topological, long-range magnetically ordered states of interacting two-dimensional (2D) quantum spin models. We show that the fermion-fermion interactions mediated by the dynamic CS flux attachment may give rise to Cooper pairing of the fermions. Specifically, in an $XY$ model on the honeycomb lattice, this construction leads to a "CS superconductor", which belongs to a topologically nontrivial in 2D symmetry class DIII, with particle-hole and time-reversal symmetries. It is shown that in the original spin language, this state corresponds to a symmetry protected topological state, which coexists with a magnetic long-range order. We discuss physical manifestations of the topological character of the corresponding state.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Dynamic properties of superconductors: Anderson-Bogoliubov mode and Berry phase in the BCS and BEC regimes

We analyze the evolution of the dynamics of a neutral s-wave superconductor between BCS and BEC regimes. We consider 2d case, when BCS-BEC crossover occurs already at weak coupling as a function of the ratio of the two scales – the Fermi energy E F and the bound state energy for two fermions in a vacuum, E 0 . BCS and BEC limits correspond to E F » E 0 and E F « E 0 , respectively. The chemical potential μ = E F - E 0 changes the sign between the two regimes. We use the effective action approach, derive the leading terms in the expansion of the effective action in the spatial and time derivative of the slowly varying superconducting order parameter Δ(r, τ), and express the action in terms of derivative of the phase Φ(r, τ) of Δ(r, τ) = Δe iΦ(r,τ) . The action contains (∇Φ) 2 and $\dot{Φ}$ 2 terms, which determine the dispersion of collective phase fluctuations, and iπA$\dot{Φ}$ term. For continuous Φ(r, τ), the latter reduces to the contribution from the boundary and does not affect the dynamics. We show that this longwavelength action does not change through BCS-BEC crossover. We apply our approach to a moving vortex, for which Φ is singular at the center of the vortex core, and iπA vort $\dot{Φ}$ term affects vortex dynamics. We find that this term has two contributions. One comes from the states away from the vortex core and has Avort,1 = n/2, where n is the fermion density. The other comes from electronic states inside the vortex core and has A vort,2 = -n 0 /2, where n 0 is the fermion density at the vortex core. This last term comes from the continuous part of the electronic spectrum and has no contribution from discrete levels inside the core; it also does not change if we add impurities. We interpret this term as the contribution to vortex dynamics in the continuum limit, when the spacing between energy levels ω is set to zero, while fermionic lifetime τ can be arbitrary. The total Avort = (n-n 0 )/2 determines the transversal force acting on the vortex core, πA vort $\dot{R}$ × $\hat{z}$, where $\dot{R}$ is the velocity of the vortex core and $\hat{z}$ a unit vector perpendicular to the 2d sample. The difference (n - n 0 )/2 changes through the BEC-BCS crossover as n 0 nearly compensates n in the BCS regime, but vanishes in the BEC regime.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Spin phase diagram of the interacting quantum Hall liquid

Measurement of the ground-state spin polarization of quantum systems offers great potential for the discovery and characterization of correlated electronic states. However, spin polarization measurements have mainly involved optical and NMR techniques that perturb the delicate ground states and, for quantum Hall systems, have provided conflicting results. In this work we present spin-resolved pulsed tunnelling (SRPT) that precisely determines the phase diagram of the ground-state spin polarization as a function of magnetic field and Landau level (LL) filling factor ($ν$) with negligible perturbation to the system. Our phase diagram shows a variety of polarized, unpolarized and topological spin states in the lowest (N = 0) LL, which can largely be described by a weakly interacting composite fermion (CF) model7. However, the phase diagram shows unexpected behaviour in the N = 1 LL. We observe fully polarized $ν$ = 5/2 and 8/3 states but a partially depolarized $ν$ = 7/3 state. This behaviour deviates from the conventional theoretical picture of weakly interacting fractional quasiparticles, but instead suggests unusual electronic correlations and the possibility of new non-Abelian phases. The results establish SRPT as a powerful technique for investigating correlated electron phenomena.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Temperature-driven BCS-BEC crossover and Cooper-paired metallic phase in coupled boson-fermion systems

Motivated by strongly correlated and frustrated systems, in this work we propose an effective model that describes the dynamics of pairs of opposite spin fermions scattering from localized bosons. Integrating out one of the degrees, either the bosons or fermions, generates temperature-dependent long-range effective interactions between the entities that we investigate using Monte Carlo techniques. The behavior of bosons is dominated by vortex-antivortex unbinding, with effective interboson interactions beyond the nearest-neighbor Josephson coupling of phases. Remarkably, in the fermion sector we observe a temperature-driven phase transition from a SC phase with a “BCS” spectral function that shows a gap minimum on the underlying Fermi surface to a conducting phase of pairs but with a “BEC” spectral function with a gap minimum at k = 0. Tunneling and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on Bose-Fermi mixtures in cold atomic systems and superconducting islands on graphene are some of the promising experimental platforms to test our predictions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗