We report on a new electromagnetic phenomenon that emerges in Mott insulators, i.e., materials that do not conduct electricity because of strong electronic Coulomb repulsion. The phenomenon manifests as antiferromagnetic ordering due to orbital electric currents which are spontaneously generated from the coupling between spin currents and an external homogenous magnetic field. This novel spin-charge current effect provides the mechanism to detect the so far elusive spin currents by means of unpolarized neutron scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance or muon spectroscopy. We illustrate this mechanism by solving a half-filled Hubbard model on a frustrated ladder, a simple but nontrivial case of strongly interacting electrons.
We study antiferromagnetism and single-particle properties in the two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model at low temperature. Collective spin fluctuations are governed by a non-linear sigma model that we derive from the Hubbard model for any value of the Coulomb repulsion. As the Coulomb repulsion increases, the ground state progressively evolves from a Slater to a Mott-Heisenberg antiferromagnet. At finite temperature, we find a metal-insulator transition between a pseudogap phase at weak coupling and a Mott-Hubbard insulator at strong coupling.
We study the Mott transition, antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in layered organic conductors using Cellular Dynamical Mean Field Theory for the frustrated Hubbard model. A d-wave superconducting phase appears between an antiferromagnetic insulator and a metal for $t^{\prime}/t=0.3-0.7 $, or between a nonmagnetic Mott insulator (spin liquid) and a metal for $t^{\prime}/t\geq 0.8$, in agreement with experiments on layered organic conductors including $κ$-(ET)$_{2}$Cu$_{2}$(CN)$_{3}$. These phases are separated by a strong first order transition. The phase diagram gives much insight into …
Direct analytic continuation of the self energy is used to determine the effect of antiferromagnetic ordering on the spectral function and optical conductivity of a Mott insulator. Comparison of several methods shows that the most robust estimation of the gap value is obtained by use of the real part of the continued self energy in the quasiparticle equation within the single-site dynamical mean field theory of the two dimensional square lattice Hubbard model, where for U slightly greater than the Mott critical value, antiferromagnetism increases the gap by about 80%.
Neutron scattering measurements have demonstrated that the heavily Cu-doped NaFe$_{1-x}$Cu$_{x}$As compound behaves like a Mott insulator exhibiting both real space Fe-Cu stripes, as well as antiferromagnetism below a Néel temperature for $x\lesssim 0.5$. We have investigated evolution of structural and magnetic ordering using $^{23}$Na and $^{75}$As NMR for single crystals ($x$ = 0.39 and 0.48), confirming antiferromagnetism in the form of magnetic stripes. We show that end-chain defects in these stripes are the principal source of magnetic disorder and are responsible for cluster spin-glass …
Based on the density functional theory and our new model Hamiltonian, we have studied the basal-plane antiferromagnetism in the novel Jeff=1/2 Mott insulator Ba2IrO4. By comparing the magnetic properties of the bulk Ba2IrO4 with those of the single-layer Ba2IrO4, we demonstrate unambiguously that the basal-plane antiferromagnetism is caused by the intralyer magnetic interactions rather than by the previously proposed interlayer ones. In order to reveal the origin of the basal-plane antiferromagnetism, we propose a new model Hamiltonian by adding the single ion anisotropy and pseudo-quadrupole …
In this paper I report evidence that the antiferromagnetic and insulating ground state of MnO is caused by a nonadiabatic atomic-like motion as it is evidently the case in NiO. In addition, I show that the experimental findings of Goodwin et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. (2006), 96,~047209] corroborate my suggestion that the rhombohedral-like distortion in antiferromagnetic MnO as well as in antiferromagnetic NiO is an inner distortion of the monoclinic base-centered Bravais lattice of the antiferromagnetic phases.
We propose a class of wave functions that provide a unified description of antiferromagnetism and d-wave superconductivity in (doped) Mott insulators. The wave function has a Jastrow form and prohibits double occupancies. In the absence of holes, the wave function describes antiferromagnetism accurately. Off diagonal long range order develops at finite doping and the superconducting order parameter has d-wave symmetry. We also show how nodal quasiparticles and neutral spin excitations can be constructed from this wave function.
Interplay between the Mott transition and the multicritical phenomenon of d-wave superconductivity (SC) and antiferromagnetism (AF) is studied theoretically. We describe the Mott transition, which is analogous to a liquid-gas phase transition, in terms of an Ising-type order parameter $η$. We reveal possible mean-field phase diagrams produced by this interplay. Renormalization group analysis up to one-loop order gives flows of coupling constants, which in most cases lead to fluctuation-induced first-order phase transitions even when the SO(5) symmetry exists betwen the SC and AF. Behaviors of …
We supplement (and critically overview) the existing extensive analysis of antiferromagnetic solution for the Hubbard model with a detailed discussion of two specific features, namely (i) the evolution of the magnetic (Slater) gap (here renormalized by the electronic correlations) into the Mott-Hubbard or atomic gap, and (ii) a rather weak renormalization of the effective mass by the correlations in the half-filled-band case, which contrasts with that for the paramagnetic case. The mass remains strongly enhanced in the non-half-filled-band case. We also stress the difference between magnetic a…
The Kondo lattice model, augmented by a Zeeman term, serves as a useful model of a Kondo insulator in an applied magnetic field. A variational mean field analysis of this system on a square lattice, backed up by quantum Monte Carlo calculations, reveals an interesting separation of magnetic field scales. For Zeeman energy comparable to the Kondo energy, the spin gap closes and the system develops transverse staggered magnetic order. The charge gap, however, survives up to a higher hybridization energy scale, at which point the canted antiferromagnetism is suppressed and the system becomes meta…
In this paper, based on the mean field approach and random-phase-approximation, we study the magnetic properties of the spinful Haldane model on honeycomb lattice of topological flat band with on-site repulsive Coulomb interaction. We find that the antiferromagnetic (AF) order is more stable than ferromagnetic (FM) order at (or near) half-filling; while away from half-filling the phase diagram becomes complex: At large doping, FM order is more stable than AF order due to the flatness of band structure. In particular, we find that at quarter filling case, the system becomes a Q=1$ topological i…
We perform large scale projector determinant quantum Monte-Carlo simulations to study the insulating states of the half-filled SU(6) Hubbard model on the square lattice. The transition from the antiferromagnetic state to the valence bond solid state occurs as increasing the Hubbard $U$. In contrast, in the SU(2) and SU(4) cases antiferromagnetism persists throughout the entire interaction range. In the SU(6) case, antiferromagnetism starts to develop in the weak interacting regime based on the Slater mechanism of Fermi surface nesting. As $U$ passes a crossover value $U^*/t\approx 9$, the sing…
The antiferromagnetic structure of Sr3Ir2O7, the bilayer analogue of a spin-orbital Mott insulator Sr2IrO4, was revealed by resonant magnetic x-ray diffraction. Contrasting intensities of the magnetic diffraction at the Ir LIII and LII edges show a Jeff=1/2 character of the magnetic moment as is argued in Sr2IrO4. The magnitude of moment, however, was found to be smaller than that of Sr2IrO4 by a factor of 5-6, implying that Sr3Ir2O7 is no longer a Mott insulator but a weak antiferromagnet. An evident change of the temperature dependence of the resistivity at TN, from almost temperature-indepe…
The phase diagram of the layered organic superconductor $κ$-(ET)$_{2}$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Cl has been accurately measured from a combination of $^{1}$H NMR and AC susceptibility techniques under helium gas pressure. The domains of stability of antiferromagnetic and superconducting long-range orders in the pressure {\it vs} temperature plane have been determined. Both phases overlap through a first-order boundary that separates two regions of inhomogeneous phase coexistence. The boundary curve is found to merge with another first order line related to the metal-insulator transition in the paramagnet…
The phase diagram of model Mott-insulator--band-insulator heterostructures is studied using the semiclassical approximation to the dynamical-mean-field method as a function of thickness, coupling constant, and charge confinement. An interface-stabilized ferromagnetic phase is found, allow the study of its competition and possible coexistence with the antiferromagnetic order characteristic of the bulk Mott insulator.
We study the interplay of strong electron correlations and intra-triangle spin exchange at two-thirds filling of the single-orbital Hubbard model on the decorated honeycomb lattice using rotationally invariant slave bosons. We find that the spin exchange tunes between a spin-$1$ Mott insulator, a metal, and a spin-$0$ Mott insulator when the exchange is antiferromagnetic. The Mott insulators occur from effective intra-triangle multi-orbital interactions and are adiabatically connected to the ground state of an isolated triangle. An antiferromagnetic spin exchange, as determined by the Goodenou…
We describe a low-temperature approach to the two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model which allows us to study both antiferromagnetism and single-particle properties. This approach ignores amplitude fluctuations of the antiferromagnetic (AF) order parameter and is valid below a crossover temperature $T_X$ which marks the onset of AF short-range order. Directional fluctuations (spin waves) are described by a non-linear sigma model (NL$σ$M) that we derive from the Hubbard model. At zero temperature and weak coupling, our results are typical of a Slater antiferromagnet. The AF gap is exponentia…
In an attempt to clarify the nature of the crossover from a Peierls band insulator to a Mott Hubbard insulator, we analyze ground-state and spectral properties of the one-dimensional half-filled Holstein Hubbard model using exact diagonalization techniques.
Proximity to a Mott insulating phase is likely to be an important physical ingredient of a theory that aims to describe high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates. Quantum cluster methods are well suited to describe the Mott phase. Hence, as a step towards a quantitative theory of the competition between antiferromagnetism (AFM) and d-wave superconductivity (SC) in the cuprates, we use Cellular Dynamical Mean Field Theory to compute zero temperature properties of the two-dimensional square lattice Hubbard model. The d-wave order parameter is found to scale like the superexchange coupli…
Given the parallelism between the physical properties of Ce and Yb based magnets and heavy fermions due to the electron-hole symmetry, it has been rather odd that the transition temperature of the Yb based compounds is normally very small, as low as $\sim$ 1 K or even lower, whereas Ce counterparts may often have the transition temperature well exceeding 10 K. Here, we report our experimental discovery of the transition temperature reaching 20 K for the first time in a Yb based compound at ambient pressure. The Mn substitution at the Al site in an intermediate valence state of $α$-YbAlB$_{4}$ …
We introduce a novel extension of the Gutzwiller variational wavefunction able to deal with insulators that escape any mean-field like description, as for instance non-magnetic insulators. As an application, we study the Mott transition from a paramagnetic metal into a non-magnetic Peierls, or valence-bond, Mott insulator. We analyze this model by means of our Gutzwiller wavefunction analytically in the limit of large coordination lattices, where we find that: (1) the Mott transition is first order; (2) the Peierls gap is large in the Mott insulator, although it is mainly contributed by the el…
An analysis of Luttinger's theorem shows that -- contrary to recent claims -- it is not valid for a generic Mott insulator. For a two-orbital Hubbard model with two electrons per site the crossover from a non-magnetic correlated insulating phase (Mott or Kondo insulator) to a band insulator is investigated. Mott insulating phases are characterized by poles of the self-energy and corresponding zeros in the Greens functions defining a ``Luttinger surface'' which is absent for band insulators. Nevertheless, the ground states of such insulators with two electrons per unit cell are adiabatically co…
We use the dynamical mean field method to investigate electronic properties of heterostructures in which finite number of Mott-insulator layers are embedded in a spatially infinite band-insulator. The evolution of the correlation effects with the number of Mott insulating layers and with position in the heterostructure is determined, and the optical conductivity is computed. It is shown that the heterostructures are generally metallic, with moderately renormalized bands of quasiparticles appearing at the interface between the correlated and uncorrelated regions.
The question if a Mott insulator and a band insulator are fundamentally different has been the matter of intensive research recently. Here we consider a simple model which allows by tuning one parameter to go continously from a Mott insulator to band insulator. The model consists of two Hubbard systems connected by single particle hopping. The Hubbard Hamiltonian is solved by the Dynamical Mean-Field theory using Quantum Monte Carlo to solve the resulting quantum impurity problem. The quasiparticle spectral function is calculated. Here we focus on the optical conductivity and in particular on …
The electronic structure at the interface between a topological band insulator and a Mott insulator is studied within layer dynamical mean field theory. To represent the bulk phases of these systems, we use the generalized Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model that incorporates the Hubbard-like onsite Coulomb energy U in addition to the spin-orbit coupling term that causes band inversion. The topological and Mott insulating phases are realized by appropriately choosing smaller and larger values of U, respectively. As expected, the interface is found to be metallic because of the localized edge state. Wh…
We investigate properties of a topological Mott insulator in one dimension by examining the bulk topological invariant and the entanglement spectrum of a correlated electron model. We clarify how gapless edge states in a non-interacting topological band insulator evolve into spinon edge states in a topological Mott insulator. Furthermore, we propose a topological Mott transition, which is a new type of topological phase transition and never observed in free fermion systems. This unconventional transition occurs in spin liquid phases in the Mott insulator and is accompanied by zeros of the sing…
The Gutzwiller wave function for a strongly correlated model can, if supplemented with a long-range Jastrow factor, provide a proper variational description of Mott insulators, so far unavailable. We demonstrate this concept in the prototypical one-dimensional $t-t^\prime$ Hubbard model, where at half filling we reproduce all known phases, namely the ordinary Mott undimerized insulator with power-law spin correlations at small $t^\prime/t$, the spin-gapped metal above a critical $t^\prime/t$ and small $U$, and the dimerized Mott insulator at large repulsion.
We theoretically discover purely electronic polarization modes in THz frequency region in dimer Mott insulators $κ$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$X. The unusual low-frequency modes arise from the coupling between the oscillation of intradimer electric dipole moments and that of alternating interdimer bond orders. These collective motions play an important role in the dynamical dielectric properties of the dimer Mott insulators. Near the phase boundary of the dimer Mott transition, the ferroelectric ground state is realized by introducing electron-lattice coupling.
Motivated by the commonplace observation of Mott insulators away from integer filling, we construct a simple thermodynamic argument for phase separation in first-order doping-driven Mott transitions. We show how to compute the critical dopings required to drive the Mott transition using electronic structure calculations for the titanate family of perovskites, finding good agreement with experiment. The theory predicts the transition is percolative and should exhibit Coulomb frustration.
We provide the first unbiased evidence for a higher-order topological Mott insulator in three dimensions by numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations. This insulating phase is adiabatically connected to a third-order topological insulator in the noninteracting limit, which features gapless modes around the corners of the pyrochlore lattice and is characterized by a $\mathbb{Z}_{4}$ spin-Berry phase. The difference between the correlated and non-correlated topological phases is that in the former phase the gapless corner modes emerge only in spin excitations being Mott-like. We also sho…
The ground state for the half-filled $t-t'$ Hubbard model is treated within the Hartree-Fock approximation and the slave boson approach including correlations. The criterium for the metal-insulator transition in the Slater scenario is formulated using an analytical free-energy expansion in the next-nearest-neighbor transfer integral $t'$ and in direct antiferromagnetic gap $Δ$. The correlation effects are generally demonstrated to favor the first-order transition. For a square lattice with a strong van Hove singularity, accidental close degeneracy of antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases i…
We derive the phase diagram for the one-dimensional model of a ferroelectric perovskite recently introduced by Egami, Ishihara and Tachiki [Science, {\bf 261}, 1307 (1993)]. We show that the interplay between covalency, ionicity and strong correlations results in a spontaneously dimerized phase which separates the weak-coupling band insulator from the strong-coupling Mott insulator. The transition from the band insulator to the dimerized phase is identified as an Ising critical point. The charge gap vanishes at this single point with the optical conductivity diverging as $σ(ω)\sim ω^{-3/4}$. T…
We present a new type of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) arising from an anomalous collapse of the Mott insulating state via a modest magnetic field in a bilayer ruthenate, Ti-doped Ca$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$. Such an insulator-metal transition is accompanied by changes in both lattice and magnetic structures. Our findings have important implications because a magnetic field usually stabilizes the insulating ground state in a Mott-Hubbard system, thus calling for a deeper theoretical study to reexamine the magnetic field tuning of Mott systems with magnetic and electronic instabilities and spin-lattic…
By using a combination of detailed experimental studies and simple theoretical arguments, we identify a novel mechanism characterizing the hopping transport in the Mott insulating phase of Ca$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$RuO$_4$ near the metal-insulator transition. The hopping exponent $α$ shows a systematic evolution from a value of $α=1/2$ deeper in the insulator to the conventional Mott value $α=1/3$ closer to the transition. This behavior, which we argue to be a universal feature of disordered Mott systems close to the metal-insulator transition, is shown to reflect the gradual emergence of disorder-induc…
High temperature copper-oxide-based superconductivity is obtained by adding carriers to insulating "parent compounds". It is widely believed the parent compounds are "Mott" insulators, in which the lack of conduction arises from anomalously strong electron-electron repulsion, and that the unusual properties of Mott insulators are responsible for high temperature superconductivity. This paper presents a comparison of optical conductivity measurements and theoretical calculations which challenges this belief. The analysis indicates that the correlation strength in the cuprates is not as strong a…
The Mott insulator is the quintessential strongly correlated electronic state. We obtain complete insight into the physics of the two-dimensional Mott insulator by extending the slave-fermion (holon-doublon) description to finite temperatures. We first benchmark its predictions against state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo simulations, demonstrating quantitative agreement. Qualitatively, the short-ranged spin fluctuations both induce holon-doublon bound states and renormalize the charge sector to form the Hubbard bands. The Mott gap is understood as the charge gap renormalized downwards by thes…
The experimentally observed, ambipolar field-effect characteristics of Mott insulators are reproduced in the one-dimensional Hubbard model attached to a tight-binding model for source and drain electrodes. The formation of Schottky barriers, originating from the work-function difference, is taken into account by a potential satisfying the Poisson equation with an appropriate boundary condition. Then, these field-effect characteristics are shown to be related by unique current-voltage characteristics of metal-Mott-insulator interfaces.
We point out and explicitly demonstrate a close connection that exists between featureless Mott insulators and fractional quantum Hall liquids. Using magnetic Wannier states as the single-particle basis in the lowest Landau level (LLL), we demonstrate that the Hamiltonian of interacting bosons in the LLL maps onto a Hamiltonian of a featureless Mott insulator on triangular lattice, formed by the magnetic Wannier states. The Hamiltonian is remarkably simple and consists only of short-range repulsion and ring-exchange terms.
We report density functional theory calculations for the parent compound LaOFeAs of the newly discovered 26K Fe-based superconductor LaO$_{1-x}$F$_x$FeAs. We find that the ground state is an ordered antiferromagnet, with staggered moment about 2.3$μ_B$, on the border with the Mott insulating state. We fit the bands crossing the Fermi surface, derived from Fe and As, to a tight-binding Hamiltonian using maximally localized Wannier functions on Fe 3d and As 4p orbitals. The model Hamiltonian accurately describes the Fermi surface obtained via first-principles calculations. Due to the evident pro…
We study the topological properties of Bose-Mott insulators in one-dimensional non-Hermitian superlattices, which may serve as effective Hamiltonians for cold atomic optical systems with either two-body loss or one-body loss. We find that in the strongly repulsive limit, the Mott insulator states of the Bose-Hubbard model with a finite two-body loss under integer fillings are topological insulators characterized by a finite charge gap, nonzero integer Chern numbers, and nontrivial edge modes in a low-energy excitation spectrum under an open boundary condition. The two-body loss suppressed by t…
We investigate proximity effects in a correlated heterostructure of a two-dimensional Mott insulator (MI) and a topological insulator (TI) by employing inhomogeneous dynamical mean-field theory. We show that the edge state of the TI induces strongly renormalized mid-gap states inside the MI region, which still have a remnant of the helical energy-spectrum. The penetration of low-energy electrons, which is controlled by the interface tunneling $V$, largely enhances the electron mass inside the MI and also splits a single Dirac-cone at edge sites into the spatially-separated two Dirac-cones in t…
A theory of heterostructures comprised of LaTiO$_3$ (a Mott insulator) and SrTiO$_3$ (a band insulator) is presented. The band structure of the Ti $d$% -electrons is treated with a nearest neighbor tight-binding approximation; the electric fields arising from the La$^{3+}$/Sr$^{2+}$ charge difference and the carriers are treated within a Hartree approximation; and the on-site interactions are treated by unrestricted Hartree-Fock. The phase diagram as a function of interaction strength and layer number is determined and predictions are made for optical conductivity experiments. A note worthy fi…
We consider a heterostructure of a metal and a paramagnetic Mott insulator using an adaptation of dynamical mean field theory to describe inhomogeneous systems. The metal can penetrate into the insulator via the Kondo effect. We investigate the scaling properties of the metal-insulator interface close to the critical point of the Mott insulator. At criticality, the quasiparticle weight decays as 1/x^2 with distance x from the metal within our mean field theory. Our numerical results (using the numerical renormalization group as an impurity solver) show that the prefactor of this power law is e…
This is a summary of a central argument in recent review articles by the author (cond-mat/0109419, cond-mat/0211005, and cond-mat/0211027). An effective field theory is derived for the low energy spin singlet excitations in a paramagnetic Mott insulator with collinear spin correlations.
The physics of doping a Mott insulator is investigated in the presence of a solid-vacuum interface. Using the embedding approach for dynamical mean field theory we show that the change in surface spectral evolution in a doped Mott insulator is driven by a combination of charge transfer effects and enhanced correlation effects. Approaching a Mott insulating phase from the metallic side, we show that a dead layer forms at the surface of the solid, where quasiparticle amplitudes are exponentially suppressed. Surface correlation and charge transfer effects can be strongly impacted by changes of th…
We examine recombination processes of photocarriers in one-dimensional Mott insulators coupled to phonons. Performing density matrix renormalization group calculations, we find that, even for small electron-phonon coupling, many phonons are generated dynamically, which cause initial relaxation process after the irradiation. At the same time, spin-charge coupling coming from mixing of high- and low-energy states by the irradiation is suppressed. We discuss differences between Mott and band insulators in terms of relaxation dynamics.
It is well established that for non-interacting electrons, increasing disorder drives a metal into a gapless localized Anderson insulator. While in three dimensions a threshold in disorder must be crossed for the transition, in two dimensions and lower, the smallest amount of disorder destabilizes the metal. The nature of the metal-insulator transition in an interacting system remains unresolved. Here we explore the effect of disorder on a strongly correlated Mott insulator without changing the carrier concentration. Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements on copper inte…
Motivated by recent experiments on the quantum-spin-liquid candidate material LiZn2Mo3O8, we study a single-band extended Hubbard model on an anisotropic Kagome lattice with the 1/6 electron filling. Due to the partial filling of the lattice, the inter-site repulsive interaction is necessary to generate Mott insulators, where electrons are localized in clusters, rather than at lattice sites. It is shown that these cluster Mott insulators are generally U(1) quantum spin liquids with spinon Fermi surfaces. The nature of charge excitations in cluster Mott insulators can be quite different from co…
Motivated by recent experiments on the quantum-spin-liquid candidate material LiZn2Mo3O8, we study a single-band extended Hubbard model on an anisotropic Kagome lattice with the 1/6 electron filling. Due to the partial filling of the lattice, the inter-site repulsive interaction is necessary to generate Mott insulators, where electrons are localized in clusters, rather than at lattice sites. We provide examples of such cluster Mott insulators and study the phase transitions between metallic states and cluster Mott insulators on an anisotropic Kagome lattice. It is shown that these cluster Mott…
Dynamical mean-field theory is employed to calculate the electronic charge reconstruction of multilayered inhomogeneous devices composed of semi-infinite metallic lead layers sandwiching barrier planes of a strongly correlated material (that can be tuned through the metal-insulator Mott transition). The main focus is on barriers that are doped Mott insulators, and how the electronic charge reconstruction can create well-defined Mott insulating regions in a device whose thickness is governed by intrinsic materials properties, and hence may be able to be reproducibly made.
We study the low energy behavior of the one dimensional Hubbard model across the Mott metal-insulator phase transition in an external magnetic field. In particular we calculate elements of the dressed charge matrix at the critical point of the Mott transition for arbitrary Hubbard repulsion and magnetization numerically and, in certain limiting cases, analytically. These results are combined with a non-perturbative effective field theory approach to reveal how the breaking of time reversal symmetry influences the Mott transition.
The electronic structure of Mott insulators continues to be a major unsolved problem in physics despite more than half-century of intense research efforts. Well-developed momentum-resolved spectroscopies such as photoemission or neutron scattering cannot probe the full Mott gap. We report observation of dispersive charge excitations across the Mott gap in a high Tc parent cuprate Ca2CuO2Cl2 using high resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering shedding light on the anisotropy of Mott-gap. The results provide direct support for the Hubbard model to describe charge excitations across the Mot…
Ultrafast laser pulses can redistribute charges in Mott insulators on extremely short time scales, leading to the fast generation of photocarriers. It has recently been demonstrated that these photocarriers can form a novel $η$--paired condensate at low temperatures, featuring a staggered superconducting pairing field. In this conference paper, we discuss the origin of the $η$--paired hidden phase and its optical response which may be detected in a pump-probe experiment. The hidden phase may be relevant for possible light-induced superconductivity in Mott insulators.
We use a nonequilibrium implementation of extended dynamical mean field theory to study the effect of dynamical screening in photo-excited Mott insulators. The insertion of doublons and holes adds low-energy screening modes and leads to a reduction of the Mott gap. The coupling to low-energy bosonic modes further- more opens new relaxation channels and significantly speeds up the thermalization process. We also consider the effect of the energy distribution of the doped carriers on the screening.
We investigate how the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator evolves into the d-wave BCS superconductor through hole doping. Allowing spin fluctuations in the strong coupling approach, we find a spin-gapped incoherent metal with preformed pairing as an intermediate phase between the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator and d-wave superconductor. This non-Fermi liquid metal is identified with an infrared stable fixed point in the spin-decomposition gauge theory, analogous to the spin liquid insulator in the slave-boson gauge theory. We consider the single particle spectrum and dynamical spin susceptibil…
Employing extensive cellular dynamical mean-field theory (CDMFT) calculations with exact diagonalization impurity solver, we investigate the ground state phase diagrams and non-magnetic metal-insulator transitions of the half-filled Hubbard model on two plaquette -- the 1/5 depleted and checkerboard -- square lattices. We identify three different insulators in the phase diagrams: dimer insulator, antiferromagnetic insulator, and plaquette insulator. And we demonstrate that the plaquette insulator is a novel fragile Mott insulator (FMI) which features a nontrivial one-dimensional irreducible re…
