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arXiv:1908.04800 · Physical Review Research

Collective modes near a Pomeranchuk instability in two dimensions

Avraham Klein, Dmitrii L. Maslov, Lev P. Pitaevskii, Andrey V. Chubukov

Published Nov 27, 2019• 19 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

This paper studies zero-sound collective modes in a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi liquid near a spontaneous instability around a Fermi surface deformation. The results show that the zero-sound mode softens at the instability and that these modes are different from their 3D counterparts. The authors explain these features as the onset of a non-trivial topological structure of the Riemann surface harboring the singularities of the dynamic susceptibility.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.1.033134

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This paper studies zero-sound collective modes in a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi liquid near a spontaneous instability around a Fermi surface deformation. The results show that the zero-sound mode softens at the instability and that these modes are different from their 3D counterparts. The authors explain these features as the onset of a non-trivial topological structure of the Riemann surface harboring the singularities of the dynamic susceptibility.
Abstract Using the Landau kinetic equation to study the non-equilibrium behavior of interacting Fermi systems is one of the crowning achievements of Landau’s Fermi liquid theory. While thorough study of transport modes has been done for standard three-dimensional Fermi liquids, an equally in-depth analysis for two dimensional Fermi liquids is lacking. In applying the Landau kinetic equation (LKE) to a two-dimensional Fermi liquid, we obtain unconventional behavior of the zero sound mode c 0 . As a function of the usual dimensionless parameter s = ω / q v F , we find two peculiar results: first, for | s | > 1 we see the propagation of an undamped mode for weakly interacting systems. This differs from the three dimensional case where an undamped mode only propagates for repulsive interactions and the mode experiences Landau damping for any arbitrary attractive interaction. Second, we find that regardless of interaction strength, a propagating mode is forbidden for | s | < 1. This is profoundly different from the three-dimensional case where a mode can propagate, albeit damped. In addition, we present a revised Pomeranchuk instability condition for a two-dimensional Fermi liquid as well as equations of motion for the fluid that follow directly from the LKE. In two dimensions, we find a constant minimum for all Landau parameters for ℓ ⩾ 1 which differs from the three dimensional case. Finally we discuss the effect of a Coulomb interaction on the system resulting in the plasmon frequency ω p exhibiting a crossover to the zero sound mode.
Electron-electron interactions can induce Fermi surface deformations which break the point-group symmetry of the lattice structure of the system. In the vicinity of such a "Pomeranchuk instability" the Fermi surface is easily deformed by anisotropic perturbations, and exhibits enhanced collective fluctuations. We show that critical Fermi surface fluctuations near a d-wave Pomeranchuk instability in two dimensions lead to large anisotropic decay rates for single-particle excitations, which destroy Fermi-liquid behavior over the whole surface except at the Brillouin zone diagonal.
Interactions in Fermi systems can generate a Pomeranchuk instability leading to orientational symmetry breaking, that is, nematic order. In a metallic system close to such an instability the Fermi surface is easily deformed by anisotropic perturbations and exhibits enhanced collective fluctuations. We analyze fluctuation effects in the quantum critical regime near a d-wave Pomeranchuk instability in two dimensions. Density correlations with a d-wave form factor and the dynamical forward scattering interaction diverge near the instability. The singular forward scattering leads to large self-energy contributions, which destroy Fermi liquid behavior over the whole Fermi surface except at “cold spots” on the Brillouin zone diagonal. The decay rate of single-particle excitations, which is related to the width of the peaks in the spectral function, exceeds the excitation energy in the low-energy limit. The dispersion of the spectra flattens strongly near those portions of the Fermi surface which are remote from the zone diagonal. The decay rate for DC transport is linear in temperature except at the cold spots. We discuss the possible relevance of d-wave Fermi surface fluctuations for the “strange metal” behavior observed in the normal phase of cuprates.
A metallic electron system near an orientational symmetry breaking Pomeranchuk instability is characterized by a ``soft'' Fermi surface with enhanced collective fluctuations. We analyze fluctuation effects in a two-dimensional electron system on a square lattice in the vicinity of a Pomeranchuk instability with ddd-wave symmetry, using a phenomenological model which includes interactions with a small momentum transfer only. We compute the dynamical density correlations with a ddd-wave form factor for small momenta and frequencies, the dynamical effective interaction due to a fluctuation exchange, and the electron self-energy. At the quantum critical point the density correlations and the dynamical forward scattering interaction diverge with a dynamical exponent z=3z=3z=3. The singular forward scattering leads to large self-energy corrections, which destroy Fermi liquid behavior over the whole Fermi surface except near the Brillouin zone diagonal. The decay rate of single-particle excitations, which is related to the width of the peaks in the spectral function, exceeds the excitation energy in the low-energy limit. The dispersion of maxima in the spectra flattens strongly near those portions of the Fermi surface which are remote from the zone diagonal. The contribution from classical fluctuations to the self-energy spoils $(\ensuremath{\omega}∕T)$ scaling in the quantum critical regime.
Electron-electron interactions can induce Fermi surface deformations which break the point-group symmetry of the lattice structure of the system. In the vicinity of such a the Fermi surface is easily deformed by anisotropic perturbations, and exhibits enhanced collective fluctuations. We show that critical Fermi surface fluctuations near a d-wave Pomeranchuk instability in two dimensions lead to large anisotropic decay rates for single-particle excitations, which destroy Fermi liquid behavior over the whole surface except at the Brillouin zone diagonal.
We study a two-dimensional Fermi gas with an arbitrary short-range repulsive interaction. We show that the vertex part has an unusual singularity in the particle-particle channel for all momenta q2kF{\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{F}}kF​, which is not found in higher dimensions. We interpret this as a collective mode representing a bound excitation of two holes. This mode, however, does not lead to an instability, or to a breakdown of Fermi-liquid theory in the low-density limit. The resulting Fermi-surface phase shift vanishes, and a \ensuremath{\Vert}\ensuremath{\omega}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Vert}}}^{5/2}$ correction to \ensuremath{\Sigma}''(kF{\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{F}}kF​,\ensuremath{\omega}) is obtained. The 2D case is also contrasted with a similar calculation in 1D.