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arXiv:1508.07886 · Physical Review Letters

Mott Quantum Criticality in the Anisotropic 2D Hubbard Model

Benjamin Lenz, Salvatore R. Manmana, Thomas Pruschke, Fakher F. Assaad, Marcin Raczkowski

Published Feb 26, 2016• 14 citations
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Abstract

We present evidence for Mott quantum criticality in an anisotropic two-dimensional system of coupled Hubbard chains at half-filling. In this scenario emerging from variational cluster approximation and cluster dynamical mean-field theory, the interchain hopping t_{⊥} acts as a control parameter driving the second-order critical end point T_{c} of the metal-insulator transition down to zero at t_{⊥}^{c}/t≃0.2. Below t_{⊥}^{c}, the volume of the hole and electron Fermi pockets of a compensated metal vanishes continuously at the Mott transition. Above t_{⊥}^{c}, the volume reduction of the pockets is cut off by a first-order transition. We discuss the relevance of our findings to a putative quantum critical point in layered organic conductors, whose location remains elusive so far.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.116.086403

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We present evidence for Mott quantum criticality in an anisotropic two-dimensional system of coupled Hubbard chains at half-filling. In this scenario emerging from variational cluster approximation and cluster dynamical mean-field theory, the interchain hopping t_{⊥} acts as a control parameter driving the second-order critical end point T_{c} of the metal-insulator transition down to zero at t_{⊥}^{c}/t≃0.2. Below t_{⊥}^{c}, the volume of the hole and electron Fermi pockets of a compensated metal vanishes continuously at the Mott transition. Above t_{⊥}^{c}, the volume reduction of the pockets is cut off by a first-order transition. We discuss the relevance of our findings to a putative quantum critical point in layered organic conductors, whose location remains elusive so far.
For doped two-dimensional Mott insulators in their normal state, the challenge is to understand the evolution from a conventional metal at high doping to a strongly correlated metal near the Mott insulator at zero doping. To this end, we solve the cellular dynamical mean-field equations for the two-dimensional Hubbard model using a plaquette as the reference quantum impurity model and continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method as impurity solver. The normal-state phase diagram as a function of interaction strength UUU, temperature TTT, and filling nnn shows that, upon increasing nnn toward the Mott insulator, there is a surface of first-order transition between two metals at nonzero doping. That surface ends at a finite temperature critical line originating at the half-filled Mott critical point. Associated with this transition, there is a maximum in scattering rate as well as thermodynamic signatures. These findings suggest a new scenario for the normal-state phase diagram of the high temperature superconductors. The criticality surmised in these systems can originate not from a T === 0 quantum critical point, nor from the proximity of a long-range ordered phase, but from a low temperature transition between two types of metals at finite doping. The influence of Mott physics therefore extends well beyond half-filling.
The nature of the metal-insulator Mott transition at zero temperature has been discussed for a number of years. Whether it occurs through a quantum critical point or through a first-order transition is expected to profoundly influence the nature of the finite-temperature phase diagram. In this paper, we study the zero temperature Mott transition in the two-dimensional Hubbard model on the square lattice with the variational cluster approximation. This takes into account the influence of antiferromagnetic short-range correlations. By contrast to single-site dynamical mean-field theory, the transition turns out to be first order even at zero temperature.
We address the nature of the Mott transition in the Hubbard model at half-filling using cluster dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). We compare cluster-DMFT results with those of single-site DMFT. We show that inclusion of the short-range correlations on top of the on-site correlations does not change the order of the transition between the paramagnetic metal and the paramagnetic Mott insulator, which remains first order. However, the short range correlations reduce substantially the critical U and modify the shape of the transition lines. Moreover, they lead to very different physical properties of the metallic and insulating phases near the transition point. Approaching the transition from the metallic side, we find an anomalous metallic state with very low coherence scale. The insulating state is characterized by the narrow Mott gap with pronounced peaks at the gap edge.
We report the application of the density-matrix renormalization-group method to a spatially anisotropic two-dimensional Hubbard model at half filling. We find a deconfinement transition induced by the transverse hopping parameter ty{t}_{y}ty​ from an insulator to a metal. Therefore, if ty{t}_{y}ty​ is fixed in the metallic phase, increasing the interaction UUU leads to a metal-to-insulator transition at a finite critical UUU. This is in contrast to the weak-coupling Hartree-Fock theory which predicts a nesting-induced antiferromagnetic insulator for any U>0U>0U>0.
Materials with strongly correlated electrons show a multitude of unconventional phenomena, such as superconductivity or magnetism, that cannot be explained in a single-particle picture and necessitate to take many-body effects into account. A route to explain the origin of these phenomena consists in constructing effective models for these materials that are then solved, often using numerical techniques. Paradigmatic models for two different classes of strongly correlated electron systems are investigated in this thesis: The Hubbard model is a paradigmatic model to describe the Mott metal-insulator transition (MIT) and the Kondo lattice model describes the low-energy physics in heavy fermion compounds. Both models are analyzed numerically using different variations of a quantum cluster technique, the variational cluster approximation (VCA). The first part focuses on the MIT, as it is investigated experimentally in quasi-two-dimensional charge-transfer salts. Its nature and associated universality class are still heavily discussed and both experiments and theoretical approaches come to different conclusions. In this thesis, the Mott transition is investigated on an anisotropic two-dimensional Hubbard model at half-filling. By using a control parameter, which induces this anisotropy, strong evidence for Mott quantum criticality is found in weakly coupled Hubbard chains. The results at zero temperature show that the second-order critical end point Tc of the interaction-driven metal-insulator transition can be tuned down to zero at strong anisotropy. Further results for the antiferromagnetic phase suggest a similar picture and motivate adding the anisotropy as a new axis in the phase diagram to account for a low-temperature critical end point of the Mott transition. The second part of this thesis focuses on unconventional phases that emerge in a paradigmatic model for heavy fermion systems, the Kondo lattice model. Using the VCA, the two-dimensional Kondo lattice model is investigated in the paramagnetic phase as well as in phases with broken symmetry. An antiferromagnetic phase at weak coupling and a phase with Kondo-singlet formation at strong coupling are analyzed. Within the antiferromagnetically ordered region, two phases with different Fermi-surface topology, which are separated by a discontinuous transition, are identified. The model is also tested for s-wave superconductivity as found recently using dynamical mean-field theory, but no indications for robust local pairing are seen within VCA. Instead, nodal d-wave superconductivity is found and analyzed in a large range of couplings and electron fillings, and its interplay with antiferromagnetic order at weak coupling is discussed. This motivates further studies on extended models that might allow for a close comparison with experiments on heavy fermion systems. Understanding the formation of unconventional phases in strongly correlated electron systems is not only of fundamental interest, but it is also essential for designing new functional materials. Although the results of approximate cluster techniques have to be handled with care, the new aspects presented in this thesis pave the way for further investigations in this direction.
The transition between a metallic and a pseudogap phase in high-Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ cuprate superconductors, which is the subject of recent experimental investigations, is studied theoretically within the Hubbard model. We apply the cluster dynamical impurity approximation to the anisotropic Hubbard model on the square lattice at zero temperature and finite doping. This approach can detect a first-order transition between two metallic states: a pseudogap state at low doping with a depleted density of states at the Fermi level and a correlated metal at higher doping. This transition was seen first in the cluster dynamical mean-field theory at finite temperatures by Sordi et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 216401 (2012)] on the isotropic Hubbard model. Here we investigate this transition at zero temperature and as a function of on-site interaction UUU, anisotropy ty/tx{t}_{y}/{t}_{x}ty​/tx​, and doping. We find a first-order transition line which ends at a critical point, which occurs around ${t}_{y}/{t}_{x}\ensuremath{\sim}0.5$.