It has recently been proposed that Na4Ir3O8 is a weak Mott insulator at ambient pressure, supporting a three-dimensional spin liquid phase with a spinon Fermi surface. This proposal is consistent with recent experimental findings that the material becomes a metal upon increasing pressure or doping. In this work, we investigate the effect of the spin-orbit coupling arising from 5d Ir moments both in the metallic and spin liquid phases of Na4Ir3O8. The effective Hubbard model in terms of pseudospin j=1/2 Ir states is derived and its consequences to both metallic and spin liquid phases are studied. In particular, the model leads to enhanced Wilson ratio and strong temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient.
Metallic spin liquid has been reported in several correlated metals, but a satisfactory theoretical description is not yet available. Here we propose a potential route to realize the metallic spin liquid and construct an effective $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory with charged fractionalized excitations on the triangular Kondo lattice. This leads to a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ metallic spin liquid featured with long-lived, heavy holon excitations of spin 0 and charge $+e$ and a partially enlarged electron Fermi surface. It differs from the weak-coupling FL$^*$ state proposed earlier and may be viewed as a frac…
It is shown that columnar fluctuations, in conjunction with weak quenched disorder, lead to a T^{3/2} temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity. This is proposed as an explanation of the observed non-Fermi-liquid behavior in the helimagnet MnSi, with one possible realization of the columnar fluctuations provided by skyrmion lines that have independently been proposed to be present in this material.
To describe anomalous zone-boundary softening and damping of magnons in manganites we present a phenomenological two-fluid model containing ferromagnetic Fermi-liquid and non-Fermi-liquid components. The Fermi-liquid component accounts for softening of zone-boundary magnons and for the Landau damping of magnons in the Stoner continuum arising at low frequencies due to zero-point effects. Coupling of the Fermi-liquid and non-Fermi-liquid fluids yields conventional long wavelength magnons damped due to their coupling with longitudinal spin fluctuations.
An unusual, non-metallic resistivity of the 111 iron-pnictide compound FeCrAs is shown to be relatively unchanged under pressures of up to 17 GPa. Combined with our previous finding that this non-metallic behaviour persists from at least 80 mK to 800 K, this shows that the non-metallic phase is exceptionally robust. Antiferromagnetic order, with a Neel temperature T_N ~ 125 K at ambient pressure, is suppressed at a rate of 7.1 +/- 0.1 K/GPa, falling to below 50 K at 10 GPa. We conclude that formation of a spin-density wave gap at T_N does not play an important role in the non-metallic resistiv…
We investigate low-energy dynamical properties of one-dimensional multicomponent quantum liquids with the short-range interaction as well as the $1/x$-type long-range interaction. By calculating the single-particle spectrum and the dynamical spin susceptibility by means of the bosonization method, we discuss how the orbital degeneracy and the band splitting affect the dynamical response functions. The effect of the long-range interaction is also addressed. Although the long-range interaction suppresses charge fluctuations, it effectively enhances spin fluctuations via the formation of the Wign…
We investigate the interplay of Kondo and RKKY coupling in presence of disorder by chemically substituting local moment Cr^{3+} at the Ir sublattice in the metallic Pr_{2}Ir_{2}O_{7}. We find evidence of non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behaviour in the transport and thermodynamic measurements at low temperature. Specifically, the magnetic susceptibility exhibits power law divergence at T=0. The nonanalytic temperature and magnetic-field dependence of magnetic susceptibility and the associated scaling suggest existence of a two-fluid system consisting of Kondo-screened paramagnetic metal coexisting with…
We show that spin-orbit coupling (SOC) plays Janus-faced roles on the orbitally-selective Mott transitions in a three-orbital Hubbard model with crystal field splitting at a specific filling of $2/3$, which is a minimal Hamiltonian for ruthenates. While the SOC favors metallic state due to enhancement of orbital hybridization at smaller on-site Coulomb repulsions, it stabilizes the Mott insulating state ascribed to lifting of orbital degeneracies and enhancement of band polarizations at larger electronic interaction. Moreover, an orbitally-selective non-Fermi liquid (OSnFL), where breakdown an…
Motivated by the intrinsic non-Fermi-liquid behavior observed in the heavy-fermion quasicrystal $\mbox{Au}_{51}\mbox{Al}_{34}\mbox{Yb}_{15}$, we study the low-temperature behavior of dilute magnetic impurities placed in metallic quasicrystals. We find that a large fraction of the magnetic moments are not quenched down to very low temperatures $T$, leading to a power-law distribution of Kondo temperatures $P(T_{\mbox{K}})\sim T_{\mbox{K}}^{α-1}$, with a nonuniversal exponent $α$, in a remarkable similarity to the Kondo-disorder scenario found in disordered heavy-fermion metals. For $α<1$, the r…
When magnetic order is suppressed by frustrated interactions, spins form a highly correlated fluctuating "spin liquid" state down to low temperatures. Magnetic order of local moments can also be suppressed when they are fully screened by conduction electrons through the Kondo effect. Thus, the combination of strong geometrical frustration and Kondo screening may lead to novel types of quantum phase transitions. We report low-temperature thermodynamic measurements on the frustrated Kondo lattice Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$, which displays a chiral spin liquid state below 1.5 K due to the frustrated inter…
We use higher-dimensional bosonization to study the normal state of electrons in weakly coupled metallic chains interacting with long-range Coulomb forces. Particular attention is paid to the crossover between Luttinger and Fermi liquid behavior as the interchain hopping is varied. Although in the physically interesting case of finite but small interchain hopping the quasi-particle residue does not vanish, the single-particle Green's function exhibits the signature of Luttinger liquid behavior (i.e. anomalous scaling and spin-charge separation) in a large intermediate parameter regime. Using r…
LiV$_2$O$_4$ spinel is known to exhibit heavy fermion-like behavior below a characteristic temperature $T_K\simeq 20$ K, while it preserves a paramagnetic state down to $T\sim10^{-2}$ K due to geometrical frustration. Here, it is shown that the dynamical spin susceptibility $χ({\bf q},ω)$ in LiV$_2$O$_4$ exhibits anomalous duality which is modeled as a sum of itinerant ($χ_{\rm F}$) and local ($χ_{\rm L}$) components,and that the local spin dynamics inferred from $χ_{\rm L}({\bf q},ω)$ is qualitatively different from that expected from time-averaged bulk properties. The anomaly coexists with t…
Magnetic correlations in all four phases of pure and doped vanadium sesquioxide V_2O_3 have been examined by magnetic thermal neutron scattering. While the antiferromagnetic insulator can be accounted for by a Heisenberg localized spin model, the long range order in the antiferromagnetic metal is an incommensurate spin-density-wave, resulting from a Fermi surface nesting instability. Spin dynamics in the strongly correlated metal are dominated by spin fluctuations in the Stoner electron-hole continuum. Furthermore, our results in metallic V_2O_3 represent an unprecedentedly complete characteri…
We report transport and thermodynamic properties of single-crystal SrIrO3 as a function of temperature T and applied magnetic field H. We find that SrIrO3 is a non-Fermi-liquid metal near a ferromagnetic instability, as characterized by the following properties: (1) small ordered moment but no evidence for long-range order down to 1.7 K; (2) strongly enhanced magnetic susceptibility that diverges as T or T1/2 at low temperatures, depending on the applied field; (3) heat capacity C(T,H) ~ -Tlog T that is readily amplified by low applied fields; (4) a strikingly large Wilson ratio at T< 4K; and …
The dissipation induced by a metallic gate on the low-energy properties of interacting 1D electron liquids is studied. As function of the distance to the gate, or the electron density in the wire, the system undergoes a quantum phase transition from the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid state to two kinds of dissipative phases, one of them with a finite spatial correlation length. We also define a dual model, which describes an attractive one dimensional metal with a Josephson coupling to a dirty metallic lead.
We propose one possible mechanism for an anomalous metallic phase appearing frequently in two spatial dimensions, that is, local pairing fluctuations. Introducing a pair-rotor representation to decompose bare electrons into collective pairing excitations and renormalized electrons, we derive an SU(2) gauge theory of the Hubbard model as an extended version of its U(1) gauge theory\cite{Florens,LeeLee} to allow only local density fluctuations. Since our effective SU(2) gauge theory admits two kinds of collective bosons corresponding to pair excitations and density fluctuations respectively, an …
We present two 2D lattice models with non-Fermi liquid metallic phases. We show that the low energy physics of these models is exactly described by a Fermi sea of fractionalized quasiparticles coupled to a fluctuating U(1) gauge field. In the first model, the underlying degrees of freedom are spin 1/2 fermions. This model demonstrates that electrons can in principle give rise to non-Fermi liquid metallic phases. In the second model, the underlying degrees of freedom are spinless bosons. This model provides a concrete example of a (non-Fermi liquid) Bose metal. With little modification, it also…
The interplay of interactions and disorder in two-dimensional (2D) electron systems has actively been studied for decades. The paradigmatic approach involves starting with a clean Fermi liquid and perturbing the system with both disorder and interactions. We instead start with a clean non-Fermi liquid near a 2D ferromagnetic quantum critical point and consider the effects of disorder. In contrast with the disordered Fermi liquid, we find that our model does not suffer from runaway flows to strong coupling and the system has a marginally stable fixed point with perfect conduction.
In quasi-1D conducting nanowires spin-orbit coupling destructs spin-charge separation, intrinsic to Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL). We study renormalization of a single scattering impurity in a such liquid. Performing bosonization of low-energy excitations and exploiting perturbative renormalization analysis we extend the phase portrait in $K_s$ - $K_c$ space, obtained previously for TLL with decoupled spin-charge channels.
Non-Fermi liquid behavior in some fermionic systems have attracted significant interest in last few decades. Certain pyrochlore iridates with stronger spin-orbit coupling strength have recently been added to the list. Here, we provide evidence of such a non-Fermi liquid ground state in another mixed valent metallic pyrochlore iridate Pb$_2$Ir$_2$O$_{7-δ}$, through the combined investigation of electronic, magnetic and thermodynamic properties as a function of temperature ($T$) and applied magnetic field ($H$). Resistivity measurement showed a linear temperature dependence down to 15~K below wh…
We have experimentally found related anomalies in electrical resistivity, dc and ac magnetic susceptibility, appearing deeply within ferromagnetically ordered state in SrRuO3. Lack of Jahn-Teller distortion in this regime rules out conventional orbital order, forcing one to describe these in terms of an orbital liquid ground state coexisting with ferromagnetic spin order. We suggest that weak spin-orbit coupling in such an unusual state underpins the observed anomalies.
`Quantum Charge Liquid'(QCL), a new phase, is proposed to describe anomalous metallic properties (T < 100 K)of a density 'y' of doped holes with strong coulomb repulsions, in a band insulator NaCoO$_2$ with N sites. This phase, a quantum melted charge order, is characterized by a `charge only' fermi-sea (cFS) of yN charges and a `soft spin-liquid' of yN spin-\half moments forming an `effective lattice' of Heisenberg antiferromagnet. An approximate microscopic theory and some consequences are outlined. Anomalous `Fermi surfaces' seen in ARPES of \ncob and \n7cob matches well with our cFS, rathe…
Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid theory is formulated for metallic carbon nanotubes with open boundaries. Both cases of single- and multi-wall nanotubes are discussed. Based on this theory, spatial variation of the charge density from an edge is investigated with taking account of the shift of the chemical potential which expresses the carrier injection to the nanotube. The charge density has the spatially independent part and the oscillatory component. Roles of Coulomb interaction on the amplitude of the oscillation, the wavenumbers of it and the uniform component of the charge density are clarified…
In this paper, we explore the relationship between strong spin-orbit coupling and spin liquid physics. We study a very general model on the triangular lattice where spin-orbit coupling leads to the presence of highly anisotropic interactions. We use variational Monte Carlo to study both $U(1)$ quantum spin liquid states and ordered ones, via the Gutzwiller projected fermion construction. We thereby obtain the ground state phase diagram in this phase space. We furthermore consider effects beyond the Gutzwiller wavefunctions for the spinon Fermi surface quantum spin liquid, which are of particul…
We present a theory of spin and orbital states in Mott insulator $LaTiO_3$. The spin-orbital superexchange interaction between $d^1(t_{2g})$ ions in cubic crystal suffers from a pathological degeneracy of orbital states at classical level. Quantum effects remove this degeneracy and result in the formation of the coherent ground state, in which the orbital moment of $t_{2g}$ level is fully quenched. We find a finite gap for orbital excitations. Such a disordered state of local degrees of freedom on unfrustrated, simple cubic lattice is highly unusual. Orbital liquid state naturally explains obs…
We study systems made of periodic arrays of one dimensional quantum wires, coupled by Coulomb interaction. Using bosonization an interacting metallic fixed point is obtained, which is shown to be a higher dimensional analogue of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, or a sliding Luttinger liquid. This non-Fermi liquid metallic state, however, is unstable in the presence of weak interwire backscatterings, which favor charge density wave states and suppress pairing. Depending on the effective strength of the Coulomb repulsion and the size of interwire spacing various charge density wave states are stab…
Resonant x-ray diffraction experiments were performed for the metallic iridium oxide IrO$_{2}$. We observed anisotropic tensor of susceptibility (ATS) scattering, the spectrum of which shows a sharp contrast between the $L_{3}$ and $L_{2}$ edges. At the $L_{3}$ edge, resonance excitations were clearly observed from the core 2$p$ orbitals to both the 5$d$ $t_{2g}$ and $e_{g}$ orbitals. In contrast, the resonance mode associated with 5$d$ $t_{2g}$ orbitals was indiscernible at the $L_{2}$ edge. This contrasting behavior indicates that Ir 5$d$ $t_{2g}$ orbitals are fairly close to the $J_{\rm eff…
For nearly a century, the Stoner model has dominated research in itinerant ferromagnetism, yet recent work on ultracold, optically trapped Fermi gases suggests that phase separation of spins occurs independent of long-range magnetic order. In this paper, we consider the breakdown of the Stoner criterion in a Landau-Fermi liquid with weak non-zero gauge field. Due to a process analogous to Kohn's theory of a metal-insulator transition, we find the stability of a Fermi liquid phase in the absence of non-quasiparticle contributions to the response is strongly dependent on Landau parameters of mix…
The resistivity $ρ$ of high mobility dilute 2D holes in GaAs exhibits a peak at a certain temperature $T^*$ in zero magnetic field($B$=0). In the $T>T^*$ regime where d$ρ$/d$T<$0, we observe for the first time both the $ν=1$ quantum Hall(QH) effect and a low field insulator-QH transition which is consistent with the 2D hole system being a Fermi liquid(FL). The known linear $T$-dependent conductivity in this $T$ regime then can be explained by hole-hole Coulomb interactions of this FL. The fact that the system is metallic (d$ρ$/d$T>$0) for $T<T^*$ implies that the high temperature FL transforms…
We describe a new possible route to the metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors such as Si:P or Si:B. We explore the possibility that the loss of metallic transport occurs through Mott localization of electrons into a quantum spin liquid state with diffusive charge neutral "spinon" excitations. Such a quantum spin liquid state can appear as an intermediate phase between the metal and the Anderson-Mott insulator. An immediate testable consequence is the presence of metallic thermal conductivity at low temperature in the electrical insulator near the metal-insulator transition. Furthe…
Using {\it ab initio} density functional theory, here we systematically study the monolayer MoOCl$_2$ with a $4d^2$ electronic configuration. Our main results is that an orbital-selective Peierls phase (OSPP) develops in MoOCl$_2$, resulting in the dimerization of the Mo chain along the $b$-axis. Specifically, the Mo-$d_{xy}$ orbitals form robust molecular-orbital states inducing localized $d_{xy}$ singlet dimers, while the Mo-$d_{xz/yz}$ orbitals remain delocalized and itinerant. Our study shows that MoOCl$_2$ is globally metallic, with the Mo-$d_{xy}$ orbital bonding-antibonding splittings o…
We consider a model self-energy consisting of an isotropic Fermi liquid term and a Marginal Fermi liquid term which is anisotropic over the Fermi surface, vanishing in the same directions as the superconducting gap and the pseudogap. This model self-energy gives a consistent description of experimental results from Angle-Dependent Magneto-Resistance (ADMR), specific heat, de Haas-van Alphen, and measurements of the quasi-particle dispersion near the Fermi surface from photoemission. In particular, we reconcile the strongly doping dependent anomalous scattering rate observed in ADMR with the al…
We exploit topological semi-metallic phases resulting from the Kondo screening in Anderson lattice models. It is shown that by including spin-orbit interactions both in the bulk electrons and in the hybridization between the conduction electrons and electrons in $f$ orbit, all types of topological semi-metallic phases can be realized in Anderson lattice models. Specifically, upon either time-reversal symmetry broken or inversion symmetry broken, we find that either Weyl semi-metallic phase, Dirac semi-metallic phase or nodal-ring semi-metallic phases always emerge between insulating phases and…
Strongly correlated materials with strong spin-orbit coupling hold promise for realizing topological phases with fractionalized excitations. Here we propose a chiral spin-orbital liquid as a stable phase of a realistic model for heavy-element double perovskites. This spin liquid state has Majorana fermion excitations with a gapless spectrum characterized by nodal lines along the edges of the Brillouin zone. We show that the nodal lines are topological defects of a non-Abelian Berry connection and that the system exhibits dispersing surface states. We discuss some experimental signatures of thi…
The lecture introduces a reader to the relatively young field of physics of strongly interacting and disordered 2D electron system, in particular, to the phenomena of the metallic conduction and the apparent metal-insulator transition in 2D. The paper briefly overviews the experimental data on the electron transport, magnetotransport, spin-magnetization in 2D, and on the electron-electron interaction effects.
We have measured the electrodynamic response in the metallic state of three highly anisotropic conductors, (TMTSF)_2 X, where X=PF_6, AsF_6, or ClO_4, and TMTSF is the organic molecule tetramethyltetraselenofulvalene. In all three cases we find dramatic deviations from a simple Drude response. The optical conductivity has two features: a narrow mode at zero frequency, with a small spectral weight, and a mode centered around 200 cm^{-1}, with nearly all of the spectral weight expected for the relevant number of carriers and single particle bandmass. We argue that these features are characterist…
We investigate the dynamical properties of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ at zero and very low temperature using density functional theory plus dynamical mean-field theory with an exact diagonalization solver. By considering rotationally invariant local interaction, we examine how Hund's coupling and spin-orbit coupling affect the correlated nature of the system. In the absence of Hund's coupling, the system shows a Fermi liquid behavior over the entire range of temperatures we consider. We confirm that the Fermi liquid persists at zero temperature even with nonzero Hund's coupling; however, at sufficient temp…
Many correlated metallic materials are described by Landau Fermi-liquid theory at low energies, but for Hund metals the Fermi-liquid coherence scale $T_{\text{FL}}$ is found to be surprisingly small. In this Letter, we study the simplest impurity model relevant for Hund metals, the three-channel spin-orbital Kondo model, using the numerical renormalization group (NRG) method and compute its global phase diagram. In this framework, $T_{\text{FL}}$ becomes arbitrarily small close to two new quantum critical points (QCPs) which we identify by tuning the spin or spin-orbital Kondo couplings into t…
The electronic properties of molecular conductors can be readily varied via physical or chemical pressure as it increases the bandwidth W; this enables crossing the Mott insulator-to-metal phase transition by reducing electronic correlations U/W. Here we introduce an alternative path by increasing the molecular orbitals when partially replacing sulfur by selenium in the constituting bis-(ethylenedithio)-tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF) molecules of the title compound. We characterize the tuning of the insulating quantum spin liquid state via a Mott transition to the metallic Fermi-liquid state by…
The critical behavior of a two-orbital model with degenerate $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals is investigated by multidimensional bosonization. We find that the corresponding bosonic theory has an overdamped collective mode with dynamical exponent $z=3$, which appears to be a general feature of a two-orbital model and becomes the dominant fluctuation in the vicinity of the orbital-ordering quantum critical point. Since the very existence of this $z=3$ overdamped collective mode induces non-Fermi liquid behavior near the quantum critical point, we conclude that a two-orbital model generally has a…
We argue for the existence of a liquid ground state in a class of square lattice models of orbitally degenerate insulators. Starting with the SU(4) symmetric Kugel-Khomskii model, we utilize a Majorana Fermion representation of spin-orbital operators to access novel phases. Variational wavefunctions of candidate liquid phases are thus obtained, whose properties are evaluated using Variational Monte Carlo. These states are disordered, and are found to have excellent energetics and ground state overlap ($>40%$) when compared with exact diagonalization on 16 site clusters. We conclude that these …
We re-examine the Peierls insulator to Mott insulator transition scenario in the one-dimensional Holstein-Hubbard model where, at half-filling, electron-phonon and electron-electron interactions compete for establishing charge- and spin-density-wave states, respectively. By means of large-scale density-matrix renormalization group calculations we determine the spin, single-particle and two-particle excitation gaps and prove--in the course of a careful finite-size scaling analysis--recent claims for an intervening metallic phase in the weak-coupling regime. We show that for large phonon frequen…
Starting from a spin-orbital model for doped manganites, we investigate a competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order in a one-dimensional model at finite temperature. The magnetic and orbital order at half filling support each other and depend on a small antiferromagnetic superexchange between t_{2g} spins and on an alternating Jahn-Teller potential. The crossover to a metallic ferromagnetic phase found at finite doping is partly suppressed by the Jahn-Teller potential which may localize e_g electrons.
We investigate the orbital fluctuations in the ferromagnetic-metallic phase of La$_{1.2}$Sr$_{1.8}$Mn$_2$O$_7$ by considering a two orbital model within a tight-binding description which reproduces the ARPES Fermi surface. We find strong antisymmetric transverse orbital fluctuations at wavevector ($ 0.5 π, 0.5 π$) resulting from the Fermi-surface nesting between the portions of bonding and antibonding bands instead of the widely believed nesting between the portions of bonding band despite their flat segments, which provide an insight into the origin of so called CE-type orbital fluctuations i…
139La NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 and rf enhancement experiments provide evidence that the low temperature regime of the ferromagnetic (FM) phase of La1-xCaxMnO3 segregates into highly-conductive and poorly-conductive FM regions, associated with differences in the orbital structure. Remarkably, phase separation is accompanied with the appearance of an extra NMR signal from FM regions with vanishingly small magnetic anisotropy. This feature has been attributed to the appearance of regions with strong orbital fluctuations, resembling droplets of an orbital liquid within the inhomogeneo…
Both the Jahn-Teller distortion of Cu$^{2+}$O$_6$ octahedra and magnetic ordering are absent in hexagonal Ba$_3$CuSb$_2$O$_9$ suggesting a Cu 3$d$ spin-orbital liquid state. Here, by means of resonant x-ray scattering and absorption experiment, we show that oxygen 2$p$ holes play crucial role in stabilizing this spin-orbital liquid state. These oxygen holes appear due to the "reaction" Sb$^{5+}$$\rightarrow$Sb$^{3+}$ $+$ two oxygen holes, with these holes being able to attach to Cu ions. The hexagonal phase with oxygen 2$p$ holes exhibits also a novel charge-orbital dynamics which is absent in…
Structure with orbital degeneracy is unstable toward spontaneous distortion. Such orbital correlation usually has a much higher energy scale than spins, and therefore, magnetic transition takes place at a much lower temperature, almost independently from orbital ordering. However, when the energy scales of orbitals and spins meet, there is a possibility of spin-orbital entanglement that would stabilize novel ground state such as spin-orbital liquid and random singlet state. Here we review on such a novel spin-orbital magnetism found in the hexagonal perovskite oxide Ba$_3$CuSb$_2$O$_9$, which …
For the past decades, the low-temperature phase of Ca$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ below the 48K first-order phase transition remains a puzzle with controversial suggestions involving metallic ferroelectric, orbital or magnetic ordering. Through analysis of experimental lattice structure, density functional theory calculation, and effective model analysis, we propose that the 48K phase transition is a bond formation transition promoted by the magnetism mediated orbital re-polarization. Most interestingly, this transition is accompanied by a switch of \textit{two} metallic ferroelectric orders from a $xy+y$ …
We study a bandwidth controlled Mott metal-insulator transition (MIT) between a Fermi liquid metal and a quantum spin-liquid insulator at half-filling in three dimensions (3D). Using a slave rotor approach, and incorporating gauge field fluctuations, we find a continuous MIT and discuss the finite temperature crossovers around this critical point. We show that the specific heat C=T ln ln (1/T) at the MIT and argue that the electrical transport on the metallic side near the transition should exhibit a `conductivity minimum' as a function of temperature. A possible candidate to test these predic…
The spin liquid phase is one of the prominent strongly interacting topological phases of matter whose unambiguous confirmation is yet to be reached despite intensive experimental efforts on numerous candidate materials. Recently, a new family of correlated honeycomb materials, in which strong spin-orbit coupling allows for various bond-dependent spin interactions, have been promising candidates to realize the Kitaev spin liquid. Here we study a model with bond-dependent spin interactions and show numerical evidence for the existence of an extended quantum spin liquid region, which is possibly …
Spin-orbital liquids are quantum disordered states in systems with entangled spin and orbital degrees of freedom. We study exactly solvable spin-orbital models in two dimensions with selected Heisenberg-, Kitaev-, and $Γ$-type interactions, as well as external magnetic fields. These models realize a variety of spin-orbital-liquid phases featuring dispersing Majorana fermions with Fermi surfaces, nodal Dirac or quadratic band touching points, or full gaps. In particular, we show that Zeeman magnetic fields can stabilize nontrivial flux patterns and induce metamagnetic transitions between states…
Thermalisation is a probabilistic process. As such, it is generally expected that when we increase the temperature of a system its classical behaviour dominates its quantum coherences. By employing the Gibbs state of a translationally invariant quantum spin liquid - Kitaev's honeycomb lattice model - we demonstrate that an insulating phase at $T=0$ becomes metallic purely by increasing temperature. In particular, we compute the finite temperature distribution of energies and show that it diverges logarithmically, as we move to small energies. The corresponding wave functions become critical al…
Coulomb interaction effects have pronounced consequences in carbon nanotubes due to their 1D nature. In particular, correlations imply the breakdown of Fermi liquid theory and typically lead to Luttinger liquid behavior characterized by pronounced power-law suppression of the transport current and the density of states, and spin-charge separation. This paper provides a review of the current understanding of non-Fermi liquid effects in metallic single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs). We provide a self-contained theoretical discussion of electron-electron interaction effects and show that the tunneling d…
Insulating quantum spin liquids can undergo a confinement transition to a valence bond solid state via the condensation of topological excitations of the associated gauge theory. We extend the theory of such transitions to fractionalized Fermi liquids (FL*): these are metallic doped spin liquids in which the Fermi surfaces only have gauge neutral quasiparticles. Using insights from a duality transform on a doped quantum dimer model for the U(1)-FL* state, we show that projective symmetry group of the theory of the topological excitations remains unmodified, but the Fermi surfaces can lead to a…
We present a formulation of quantum molecular dynamics that includes electron correlation effects via the Gutzwiller method. Our new scheme enables the study of the dynamical behavior of atoms and molecules with strong electron interactions. The Gutzwiller approach goes beyond the conventional mean-field treatment of the intra-atomic electron repulsion and captures crucial correlation effects such as band narrowing and electron localization. We use Gutzwiller quantum molecular dynamics to investigate the Mott transition in the liquid phase of a single-band metal and uncover intriguing structur…
We discuss a new class of quantum phase transitions -- Deconfined Mott Transition (DMT) -- that describe a continuous transition between a Fermi liquid metal with a generic electronic Fermi surface and an electrical insulator without Fermi surfaces of emergent neutral excitations. We construct a unified $U(2)$ gauge theory to describe a variety of metallic and insulating phases, which include Fermi liquids, fractionalized Fermi liquids (FL*), conventional insulators and quantum spin liquids, as well as the quantum phase transitions between them. Using the DMT as a basic building block, we prop…
A highlight of Fermi-liquid phenomenology, as explored in neutral $^3$He, is the observation that in the collisionless regime shear stress propagates as if one is dealing with the transverse phonon of a solid. The existence of this $"$transverse zero sound$"$ requires that the quasiparticle mass enhancement exceeds a critical value. Could such a propagating shear stress also exist in strongly correlated electron systems? Despite some noticeable differences with the neutral case in the Galilean continuum, we arrive at the verdict that transverse zero sound should be generic. We present an exper…
We study the metal-insulator transition in individual self-assembled quantum wires and report optical evidences of metallic liquid condensation at low temperatures. Firstly, we observe that the temperature and power dependence of the single nanowire photoluminescence follow the evolution expected for an electron-hole liquid in one dimension. Secondly, we find novel spectral features that suggest that in this situation the expanding liquid condensate compresses the exciton gas in real space. Finally, we estimate the critical density and critical temperature of the phase transition diagram at $n…
Using Lanczos exact diagonalization of finite clusters we demonstrate that the spin-orbital $d^1$ model for triply degenerate $t_{2g}$ orbitals on a triangular lattice provides an example of a spin-orbital liquid ground state. We also show that the spin-orbital liquid involves entangled valence bond states which violate the Goodenough-Kanamori rules, and modify effective spin exchange constants.
