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arXiv:1307.3170 · Physical Review B

Perturbative non-Fermi liquids from dimensional regularization

Denis Dalidovich, Sung-Sik Lee

Published Dec 4, 2013• 149 citations
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Abstract

We devise a dimensional regularization scheme for quantum field theories with a Fermi surface to study scaling behavior of non-Fermi liquid states in a controlled approximation. Starting from two space dimensions, the co-dimension of the Fermi surface is extended to a general value while its dimension is fixed. When the Fermi surface is coupled with a critical boson centered at zero momentum, the interaction becomes marginal at a critical space dimension ${d}_{c}=5/2$. A deviation from the critical dimension is used as a small parameter for a systematic expansion. We apply this method to the theory where two patches of the Fermi surface are coupled with a critical boson, and show that the Ising-nematic critical point is described by a stable non-Fermi liquid state slightly below the critical dimension. Critical exponents are computed up to the two-loop order.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.88.245106

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•Jan 1, 1996•4 citations
We devise a dimensional regularization scheme for quantum field theories with a Fermi surface to study scaling behavior of non-Fermi liquid states in a controlled approximation. Starting from two space dimensions, the co-dimension of the Fermi surface is extended to a general value while its dimension is fixed. When the Fermi surface is coupled with a critical boson centered at zero momentum, the interaction becomes marginal at a critical space dimension dc=5/2{d}_{c}=5/2dc​=5/2. A deviation from the critical dimension is used as a small parameter for a systematic expansion. We apply this method to the theory where two patches of the Fermi surface are coupled with a critical boson, and show that the Ising-nematic critical point is described by a stable non-Fermi liquid state slightly below the critical dimension. Critical exponents are computed up to the two-loop order.
In metals, low-energy effective theories are characterized by a set of coupling functions. Among them, the angle-dependent Fermi momentum specifies the size and shape of Fermi surface. Since the Fermi momentum grows incessantly under the renormalization group flow, a metallic fixed point is defined only modulo a rescaling of Fermi momentum. In this paper, we discuss the physical consequences of this projective nature of fixed points for non-Fermi liquids with hot Fermi surfaces. The first is the absence of a unique dynamical critical exponent that dictates the relative scaling between energy and momentum. The second is mismatches between the scaling dimensions of couplings and their relevancy. Nonetheless, each projective fixed point is characterized by a few marginal and relevant coupling functions, and the notion of universality survives. We illustrate our findings by charting the space of projective fixed points and extracting their universal properties for the Ising-nematic quantum critical metal beyond the patch theory. To control the theory, we use the dimensional regularization scheme that tunes the co-dimension of Fermi surface. Near the upper critical dimension, two exactly marginal coupling functions span the space of stable projective fixed points: functions that specify the shape of the Fermi surface and the angle-dependent Fermi velocity. All other coupling functions, including the Landau functions and the universal pairing interaction, are fixed by those two marginal functions. With decreasing dimensions, the forward scattering remains irrelevant while the pairing interaction becomes relevant near two dimensions. In two dimensions, it is expected that the universal superconducting fluctuations lower the symmetry of the non-Fermi liquid realized above the superconducting transition temperatures from the loop U(1) group to a proper subgroup.
We use renormalization group (RG) analysis and dimensional regularization techniques to study potential superconductivity-inducing four-fermion interactions in systems with critical Fermi surfaces of general dimensions (m)(m)(m) and codimensions $(d\ensuremath{-}m)$, arising as a result of quasiparticle interaction with a gapless Ising-nematic order parameter. These are examples of non-Fermi liquid states in ddd spatial dimensions. Our formalism allows us to treat the corresponding zero-temperature low-energy effective theory in a controlled approximation close to the upper critical dimension d=dc(m)d={d}_{c}(m)d=dc​(m). The fixed points are identified from the RG flow equations, as functions of ddd and mmm. We find that the flow toward the non-Fermi liquid fixed point is preempted by Cooper pair formation for both the physical cases of (d=3,m=2)(d=3,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}m=2)(d=3,m=2) and (d=2,m=1)(d=2,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}m=1)(d=2,m=1). In fact, there is a strong enhancement of superconductivity by the order parameter fluctuations at the quantum critical point.
We consider systems of non-relativistic, interacting electrons at finite density and zero temperature in d = 2, 3, ... dimensions. Our main concern is to characterize those systems that, under the renormalization flow, are driven away from the Landau Fermi liquid (LFL) renormalization group fixed point. We are especially interested in understanding under what circumstances such a system is a Marginal Fermi liquid (MFL) when the dimension of space is greater or equal than 2 . The interacting electron system is analyzed by combining renormalization group (RG) methods with bosonization techniques. The RG calculations are organized as a double expansion in the inverse scale parameter, λ−1,λ^{-1} ,λ−1, which is proportional to the width of the effective momentum space around the Fermi surface and in the running coupling constant, $ g_λ, $ which measures the strength of electron interactions at corresponding energy scales. Excluding a superconducting instability, the system can be analyzed by means of bosonization. The RG and the underlying perturbation expansion in powers of $ λ^{-1} $ serve to characterize the approximations involved by bosonizing the system. We argue that systems with short-range interactions flow to the LFL fixed point. Within the approximations involved by bosonization, the same holds for systems with long-range, longitudinal, density-density interactions. For electron systems interacting via long-range, transverse, current-current interactions a deviation from LFL behaviour is possible : the results of the bosonization calculation are consistent with a MFL, if the exponent parametrizing the singularity of the interaction potential in momentum space is greater than or equal to d-1.
The destruction of Fermi-liquid behavior when a gapless Fermi surface is coupled to a fluctuating gapless boson field is studied theoretically. This problem arises in a number of different contexts in quantum many-body physics. Examples include fermions coupled to a fluctuating transverse gauge field pertinent to quantum spin-liquid Mott insulators, and quantum critical metals near a Pomeranchuk transition. We develop a controlled theoretical approach to determine the low-energy physics. Our approach relies on combining an expansion in the inverse number (N)(N)(N) of fermion species with a further expansion in the parameter $ϵ={z}_{b}\ensuremath{-}2$, where zb{z}_{b}zb​ is the dynamical critical exponent of the boson field. We show how this limit allows a systematic calculation of the universal low-energy physics of these problems. The method is illustrated by studying spinon Fermi-surface spin liquids, and a quantum critical metal at a second-order electronic nematic phase transition. We calculate the low-energy single-particle spectra, and various interesting two-particle correlation functions. In some cases, deviations from the popular random-phase approximation results are found. Some of the same universal singularities are also calculated to leading nonvanishing order using a perturbative renormalization-group calculation at small NNN extending previous results of Nayak and Wilczek. Implications for quantum spin liquids and for Pomeranchuk transitions are discussed. For quantum critical metals at a nematic transition, we show that the tunneling density of states has a power-law suppression at low energies.
We study non-Fermi-liquid states that arise at the quantum critical points associated with the spin density wave (SDW) and charge density wave (CDW) transitions in metals with twofold rotational symmetry. We use the dimensional regularization scheme, where a one-dimensional Fermi surface is embedded in $(3\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\epsilon})$-dimensional momentum space. In three dimensions, quasilocal marginal Fermi liquids arise both at the SDW and CDW critical points: the speed of the collective mode along the ordering wave vector is logarithmically renormalized to zero compared to that of Fermi velocity. Below three dimensions, however, the SDW and CDW critical points exhibit drastically different behaviors. At the SDW critical point, a stable anisotropic non-Fermi-liquid state is realized for small $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$, where not only time but also different spatial coordinates develop distinct anomalous dimensions. The non-Fermi liquid exhibits an emergent algebraic nesting as the patches of Fermi surface are deformed into a universal power-law shape near the hot spots. Due to the anisotropic scaling, the energy of incoherent spin fluctuations disperse with different power laws in different momentum directions. At the CDW critical point, on the other hand, the perturbative expansion breaks down immediately below three dimensions as the interaction renormalizes the speed of charge fluctuations to zero within a finite renormalization group scale through a two-loop effect. The difference originates from the fact that the vertex correction antiscreens the coupling at the SDW critical point whereas it screens at the CDW critical point.
We consider systems of nonrelativistic, interacting electrons at finite density and zero temperature in d=2,3,ldots dimensions. Our main concern is to characterize those systems that, under the renormalization flow, are driven away from the Landau Fermi-liquid (LFL) renormalization-group fixed point. We are especially interested in understanding under what circumstances such a system is a marginal Fermi-liquid (MFL) when the dimension of space is d\ensuremath{\geqslant}2. The interacting electron system is analyzed by combining renormalization-group (RG) methods with so called 'Luther-Haldane' bosonization techniques. The RG calculations are organized as a double expansion in the inverse scale parameter ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ , which is proportional to the width of the effective momentum space around the Fermi surface and in the running coupling constant ${\mathrm{g}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$ , which measures the strength of electron interactions at energy scales \ensuremath{\sim}vF{\mathrm{v}}_{\mathrm{F}}vF​ kF{\mathrm{k}}_{\mathrm{F}}kF​ /\ensuremath{\lambda}. For systems with a strictly convex Fermi surface, superconductivity is the only symmetry-breaking instability. Excluding such an instability, the system can be analyzed by means of bosonization. The RG and the underlying perturbation expansion in powers of ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ serve to characterize the approximations involved by bosonizing the system. We argue that systems with short-range interactions flow to the LFL fixed point. Within the approximations involved by bosonization, the same holds for systems with long-range, longitudinal, density-density interactions. For electron systems interacting via long-range, transverse, current-current interactions, a deviation from LFL behavior is possible: if the exponent \ensuremath{\alpha} parametrizing the singularity of the interaction potential in momentum space by V-hat(|p|)\ensuremath{\sim}1/|p${\mathrm{|}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\alpha}}}$ is greater than or equal to d-1, the results of the bosonization calculation are consistent with a MFL.