Actinide elements produce a plethora of interesting physical behaviors due to the 5f states. This review compiles and analyzes progress in understanding of the electronic and magnetic structure of the 5f states in actinide metals. Particular interest is given to electron energy-loss spectroscopy and many-electron atomic spectral calculations, since there is now an appreciable library of core d -> valence f transitions for Th, U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cm. These results are interwoven and discussed against published experimental data, such as x-ray photoemission and absorption spectroscopy, transport measurements, and electron, x-ray, and neutron diffraction, as well as theoretical results, such as density-functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory.
In comparison to 3d or 4f metals, magnetism in actinides remains poorly understood due to experimental complications and the exotic behavior of the 5f states. In particular, plutonium metal is most especially vexing. Over the last five decades theories proposed the presence of either ordered or disordered local moments at low temperatures. However, experiments such as magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, nuclear magnetic resonance, specific heat, and elastic and inelastic neutron scattering show no evidence for ordered or disordered magnetic moments in any of the six phases of plut…
Actinide compounds with 5f electrons have been attracting much attention because of their interesting magnetic and electronic properties such as heavy fermion state, unconventional superconductivity, co-existence of the superconductivity and magnetism. Recently, we have reported a phenomenological analysis on 80 actinide ferromagnets with the spin fluctuation theory originally developed to explain the ferromagnetic properties of itinerant ferromagnets in the 3d transition metals and their intermetallics (N. Tateiwa et al., Phys. Rev. B 96, 035125 (2017)). Our study suggests the itinerancy of t…
Although strong electronic correlations are known to be responsible for some highly unusual behaviors of solids such as, metal--insulator transitions, magnetism and even high--temperature superconductivity, their interplay with recently discovered topological states of matter awaits full exploration. Here we use a modern electronic structure method combining density functional theory of band electrons with dynamical self-energies of strongly correlated states to predict that two well-known phases of actinide compound UNiSn, a paramagnetic semiconducting and antiferromagnetic metallic, correspo…
We have carried out an analysis of magnetic data in 69 uranium, 7 neptunium and 4 plutonium ferromagnets with the spin fluctuation theory developed by Takahashi (Y. Takahashi, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 55, 3553 (1986)). The basic and spin fluctuation parameters of the actinide ferromagnets are determined and the applicability of the spin fluctuation theory to actinide 5f system has been discussed. Itinerant ferromagnets of the 3d transition metals and their intermetallics follow a generalized Rhodes-Wohlfarth relation between p_eff/p_s and T_C/T_0, viz., p_eff/p_s ~ (T_C/T_0)^(-3/2). Here, p_s, p_eff…
Actinide materials play a special role in condensed matter physics, spanning behaviours of itinerant d-electron and localized 4f-electron materials. An intermediate state, found notably in Pu-based materials whose 5f electrons are neither fully localized nor itinerant, is particularly challenging to understand. Superconductivity appearing in some actinide materials provides clues to the nature of the 5f electrons. PuCoGa5, the first Pu-based superconductor, is superconducting at Tc=18.5 K. This relatively high Tc is unprecedented in any other actinide system but is typical of itinerant electro…
Uranium and plutonium's 5f electrons are tenuously poised between strongly bonding with ligand spd-states and residing close to the nucleus. The unusual properties of these elements and their compounds (eg. the six different allotropes of elemental plutonium) are widely believed to depend on the related attributes of f-orbital occupancy and delocalization, for which a quantitative measure is lacking. By employing resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) and x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy and making comparisons to specific heat measurements, we demonstrate the pres…
The unusual properties of elemental plutonium have long been a puzzle. It has been suggested that these properties may be related to quantum criticality [G. Chapline, J. L. Smith LA Sci 26 (2000) 1]. In this talk we will describe some experimental observations on rare earth and actinide materials which suggest that there are pairing correlations in all f-electron metals, and that the anomalous properties of the elemental actinides in the vicinity of Np/Pu/Am,even at elevated temperatures, is associated with a critical point in the variation of the density of paired electrons with atomic number…
An effective mass of charge carriers that is significantly larger that the mass of a free electron develops at low temperatures in certain lanthanide- and actinide-based metals, including those formed with plutonium, due to strong electron-electron interactions. This heavy-fermion mass is reflected in a substantially enhanced electronic coefficient of specific heat $γ$, which for elemental Pu itself is much larger than that of normal metals. By our definition, there are twelve Pu-based heavy-fermion compounds, most discovered recently, whose basic properties are known and discussed. Relative t…
The rare earth metal praseodymium (Pr) transforms from the d-fcc crystal structure (Pr-III) to {$α$}-U one (Pr-IV) at 20 GPa with a large volume collapse (${\rmΔ} V/V$ = 0.16), which is associated with the valence change of the Pr ion. The two 4{\it f} electrons in the Pr ion is supposed to be itinerant in the Pr-IV phase. In order to investigate the electronic state of the phase IV, we performed the high pressure electrical resistance measurement using the diamond anvil cell up to 32 GPa. In the Pr-IV phase, the temperature dependence of the resistance shows an upward negative curvature, whic…
We revisit the concept of superfluidity in bosonic lattice models in low dimensions. Then, by using numerical and analytical results obtained previously for equivalent spinless fermion models, we show that the gapless phase of 1D interacting bosons may be either superfluid or -remarkably- metallic and not superfluid. The latter phase -the Bose metal- should be, according to the mentioned results, a robust and stable phase in 1D. In higher dimensionalities we speculate on the possibility of a stable Bose metallic phase on the verge of a Mott transition.
The heavy fermion state with Kondo-hybridization (KH), usually manifested in f-electron systems with lanthanide or actinide elements, was recently discovered in several 3d transition metal compounds without f-electrons. However, KH has not yet been observed in 4d/5d transition metal compounds, since more extended 4d/5d orbitals do not usually form flat bands that supply localized electrons appropriate for Kondo pairing. Here, we report a doping- and temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission study on 4d Ca2-xSrxRuO4, which shows the signature of KH. We observed a spectral weight transf…
We have measured the photoemission spectra of Nd$_{1-x}$Sm$_{x}$NiO$_{3}$, where the metal-insulator transition and the Néel ordering occur at the same temperature for $x \lesssim 0.4$ and the metal-insulator transition temperature ($T_{MI}$) is higher than the Néel temperature for $x \gtrsim 0.4$. For $x \le 0.4$, the spectral intensity at the Fermi level is high in the metallic phase above $T_{MI}$ and gradually decreases with cooling in the insulating phase below $T_{MI}$ while for $x > 0.4$ it shows a pseudogap-like behavior above $T_{MI}$ and further diminishes below $T_{MI}$. The results…
We report new observation of cooperative paramagnetic fluctuations of Ru$^{4+}$ spins that coexist with the non-Fermi liquid state in CaRuO$_{3}$ perovskite below T $\simeq$ 22 K. Detailed electrical, magnetic and neutron scattering measurements reveal that the Ru$^{4+}$ ions reside in magnetic field independent random domains with dynamic properties that are reminiscent of the cooperative paramagnetic fluctuations. The linear ($E/T$) scaling of the dynamic susceptibilities and divergence of the mean relaxation time as $T$$\rightarrow$~0 K suggest quasi-local critical nature of the spin fluctu…
We study the doping-driven Mott metal-insulator transition for multi-orbital Hubbard models with Hund's exchange coupling at finite temperatures. As in the single-orbital Hubbard model, the transition is of first-order within dynamical mean field theory, with a coexistence region where two solutions can be stabilized. We find, that in the presence of finite Hund's coupling, the insulating phase is connected to a badly metallic phase, which extends to surprisingly large dopings. While fractional power-law behavior of the self-energies on the Matsubara axis is found on both sides of the transiti…
We study the photo-induced metallization process in niobium dioxide NbO$_2$. This compound undergoes the thermal insulator-to-metal transition at the remarkably high temperature of 1080 K. Our optical pump - terahertz probe measurements reveal the ultrafast switching of the film on a sub-picosecond timescale and the formation of a metastable metallic phase when the incident pump fluence exceeds the threshold of 10 mJ/cm$^2$. Remarkably, this threshold value corresponds to the deposited energy which is capable of heating NbO$_2$ only up to 790 K, thus, evidencing the non-thermal character of th…
Physicists are engaged in vigorous debate on the nature of the quantum critical points (QCP) governing the low-temperature properties of heavy-fermion (HF) metals. Recent experimental observations of the much-studied compound YbRh2Si2 in the regime of vanishing temperature incisively probe the nature of its magnetic-field-tuned QCP. The jumps revealed both in the residual resistivity rho_0 and the Hall resistivity R_H, along with violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law, provide vital clues to the origin of such non-Fermi-liquid behavior. The empirical facts point unambiguously to association of t…
Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), we studied the local structure in LaMnO3 under applied pressure across and well above the insulator to metal (IM) transition. A hysteretic behavior points to the coexistence of two phases within a large pressure range (7 to 25 GPa). The ambient phase with highly Jahn-Teller (JT) distorted MnO6 octahedra is progressively substituted by a new phase with less-distorted JT MnO6 units. The electronic delocalization leading to the IM transition is finger-printed from the pre-edge XAS structure around 30 GPa. We observed that the phase transition takes place…
Spontaneous symmetry breakings, metal-insulator transitions, and transport properties of magnetic-domain-wall states in pyrochlore iridium oxides are studied by employing a symmetry adapted effective hamiltonian with a slab perpendicular to the (111) direction of the pyrochlore lattice. Emergent metallic domain wall, which has unconventional topological nature with a controllable and mobile metallic layer, is shown to host Fermi surfaces with modulated helical spin textures resembling Rashba metals. The helical nature of the domain-wall Fermi surfaces is experimentally detectable by anomalous …
We report the electronic properties of the NdNiO3, prepared at the ambient oxygen pressure condition. The metal-insulator transition temperature is observed at 192 K, but the low temperature state is found to be less insulating compared to the NdNiO3 prepared at high oxygen pressure. The electric resistivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity of the compound show large hysteresis below the metal-insulator transition. The large value of the effective mass (m* ~ 8me) in the metallic state indicate the narrow character of the 3d band. The electric conduction at low temperatures (T = 2 …
Strong spin-orbit coupled 5d transition metal based ABO3 oxides, especially iridates, allow tuning parameters in the phase diagram and may demonstrate important functionalities, for example, by means of strain effects and symmetry-breaking, because of the interplay between the Coulomb interactions and strong spin-orbit coupling. Here, we have epitaxially stabilized high quality thin films of perovskite (Pv) CaIrO3. Film on the best lattice-matched substrate shows semi-metal-like characteristics. Intriguingly, imposing tensile or compressive strain on the film by altering the underlying lattice…
Using a theory of polarizable fluids, we extend a variational treatment of an excess electron to the many-electron case corresponding to finite metal concentrations in metal-ammonia solutions (MAS). We evaluate dielectric, optical, and thermodynamical properties of MAS at low metal concentrations. Our semi-analytical calculations based on a mean-spherical approximation correlate well with the experimental data on the concentration and the temperature dependencies of the dielectric constant and the optical absorption spectrum. The properties are found to be mainly determined by the induced dipo…
Applying semi-analytical models of nonideal plasma, we evaluate the behavior of the metallic phase in metal-ammonia solutions (MAS). This behavior is mainly controlled by the degenerate electron gas, which remains stable down to 5 MPM due to high solvent polarizability and strong dielectric screening of solvated ions. Comparing the behavior of the metallic state with those of localized solvated electrons, we have estimated the miscibility gap $Δn$ for various alkali metals and found $Δn$(Na)$> Δn($K$)$. It is rather narrow in Rb-NH$_3$ and does not occur in Cs-NH$_3$ solutions, which is in ful…
We study the quantum phase transition from an insulator to a metal realized at t'=t'_c > 0.5t in the ground state of the half-filled Hubbard chain with both nearest-neighbor (t) and next-nearest-neighbor (t') hopping. The study is carried out using the bosonization approach and density matrix renormalization group calculations. An effective low-energy Hamiltonian that describes the insulator-metal transition is derived. We find that the gross features of the phase diagram are well-described by the standard theory of commensurate-incommensurate transitions in a wide range of parameters. We also…
We use electrical transport, magnetoresistance, and heat capacity measurements on high quality single crystals of the recently discovered superconducting Type-II Dirac semi-metal PdTe$_2$, to probe the nature of it's superconducting phase. The magnitude of the electronic heat capacity anomaly at $T_c$, the low temperature exponential $T$ dependence of the heat capacity, and a conventional $H - T$ phase diagram establish that the superconductivity in PdTe$_2$ is conventional in nature despite the presence of a topologically non-trivial Fermi surface band which contributes to the electrical cond…
Combining mean-field and renormalization group analyses, here we unveil the nature of recently observed superconductivity and parent metallic states in chemically doped rhombohedral trilayer graphene, subject to external electric displacement fields ($D$) [H. Zhou, \emph{et al.}, Nature (London) {\bf 598}, 434 (2021)]. We argue that close to the charge neutrality, on site Hubbard repulsion favors layer antiferromagnet, which when combined with the $D$-field induced layer polarization, produces a spin-polarized, but valley-unpolarized half-metal, conducive to the nucleation of spin-triplet $f$-…
Layered cobaltates embody novel realizations of correlated quantum matter on a spin-1/2 triangular lattice. We report a high-resolution systematic photoemission study of the insulating cobaltates (Na1/2CoO2 and K1/2CoO2). Observation of single-particle gap opening and band-folding provides direct evidence of anisotropic particle-hole instability on the Fermi surface due to its unique topology. Kinematic overlap of the measured Fermi surface is observed with the $\sqrt{3}$x$\sqrt{3}$ cobalt charge-order Brillouin zone near x=1/3 but not at x=1/2 where insulating transition is actually observed.…
It has long been believed that, at absolute zero, electrons can form only one quantum coherent state, a superconductor. Yet, several two dimensional superconducting systems were found to harbor the superinsulating state with infinite resistance, a mirror image of superconductivity, and a metallic state often referred to as Bose metal, characterized by finite longitudinal and vanishing Hall resistances. The nature of these novel and mysterious quantum coherent states is the subject of intense study.Here, we propose a topological gauge description of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT)…
