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arXiv:2003.09431 · Physical Review X

Normal State Properties of Quantum Critical Metals at Finite Temperature

Avraham Klein, Andrey V. Chubukov, Yoni Schattner, Erez Berg

Published Sep 8, 2020• 44 citations
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Abstract

We study the effects of finite temperature on normal state properties of a metal near a quantum critical point to an antiferromagnetic or Ising-nematic state.At T ¼ 0, bosonic and fermionic self-energies are traditionally computed within Eliashberg theory, and they obey scaling relations with characteristic power laws.Corrections to Eliashberg theory break these power laws but only at very small frequencies.Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations have shown that, already at much larger frequencies, there are strong systematic deviations from these predictions, casting doubt on the validity of the theoretical analysis.We extend Eliashberg theory to finite T and argue that in the T range accessible in the QMC simulations above the superconducting transition, the scaling forms for both fermionic and bosonic self-energies are quite different from those at T ¼ 0. We compare finite T results with QMC data and find good agreement for both systems.We argue that this agreement resolves the key apparent contradiction between the theory and the QMC simulations.

DOI
10.1103/physrevx.10.031053

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We study the effects of finite temperature on normal state properties of a metal near a quantum critical point to an antiferromagnetic or Ising-nematic state.At T ¼ 0, bosonic and fermionic self-energies are traditionally computed within Eliashberg theory, and they obey scaling relations with characteristic power laws.Corrections to Eliashberg theory break these power laws but only at very small frequencies.Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations have shown that, already at much larger frequencies, there are strong systematic deviations from these predictions, casting doubt on the validity of the theoretical analysis.We extend Eliashberg theory to finite T and argue that in the T range accessible in the QMC simulations above the superconducting transition, the scaling forms for both fermionic and bosonic self-energies are quite different from those at T ¼ 0. We compare finite T results with QMC data and find good agreement for both systems.We argue that this agreement resolves the key apparent contradiction between the theory and the QMC simulations.
We study finite-temperature properties of metals close to an Ising-nematic quantum critical point in two spatial dimensions. In particular we show that at any finite temperature there is a regime where order parameter fluctuations are characterized by a dynamical critical exponent z=2z=2z=2, in contrast to z=3z=3z=3 found at zero temperature. Our results are based on a simple Eliashberg-type approach, which gives rise to a boson self-energy proportional to $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}/\ensuremath{\gamma}(T)$ at small momenta, where $\ensuremath{\gamma}(T)$ is the temperature dependent fermion scattering rate. These findings might shed some light on recent Monte Carlo simulations at finite temperature, where results consistent with z=2z=2z=2 were found.
Abstract Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations of correlated electron systems provide unbiased information about system behavior at a quantum critical point (QCP) and can verify or disprove the existing theories of non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behavior at a QCP. However, simulations are carried out at a finite temperature, where quantum critical features are masked by finite-temperature effects. Here, we present a theoretical framework within which it is possible to separate thermal and quantum effects and extract the information about NFL physics at T = 0. We demonstrate our method for a specific example of 2D fermions near an Ising ferromagnetic QCP. We show that one can extract from QMC data the zero-temperature form of fermionic self-energy Σ( ω ) even though the leading contribution to the self-energy comes from thermal effects. We find that the frequency dependence of Σ( ω ) agrees well with the analytic form obtained within the Eliashberg theory of dynamical quantum criticality, and obeys ω 2/3 scaling at low frequencies. Our results open up an avenue for QMC studies of quantum critical metals.
We study the role of finite-size effects on critical behavior near a metallic q=0q=0q=0 critical point and compare the results with a recent extensive quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) study [Y. Schattner et al., Phys. Rev. X 6, 031028 (2016)]. This study found several features in both bosonic and fermionic responses, in disagreement with the expected critical behavior with a dynamical exponent z=3z=3z=3. We show that finite-size effects are particularly strong for z=3z=3z=3 criticality and give rise to a behavior different from that of an infinite system, over a wide range of momenta and frequencies. We argue that by taking finite-size effects into account, the QMC results can be explained within z=3z=3z=3 theory.
ω/Tω/Tω/T scaling and IR/UV-mixing in Ising-nematic quantum critical metals
The instability of a Fermi surface against Ising nematic order destroys the quasiparticle character of the low-energy degrees of freedom. Therefore, observables exhibit deviations from Fermi liquid behavior which gives rise to the term Ising nematic quantum critical metal. To obtain a theoretical description we use a finite-temperature version of Eliashberg theory which allows to treat the strong coupling between quantum and thermal fluctuations in the absence of well-defined quasiparticles. Here, we use this self-consistent, diagrammatic approach to compute, in particular, the nematic susceptibility and the non-Fermi liquid correlations. Upon decreasing the temperature, the susceptibility crosses over from a (Tlog⁡T)−1(T \log T)^{-1}(TlogT)−1 to T−2/3T^{-2/3}T−2/3 behavior, which is induced by the absence of quasiparticles and restores the Ising nematic critical scaling. Correspondingly, the fermions obey a simple ω/Tω/Tω/T scaling law at low enough temperatures. However, this regime is characterized by strong IR-UV mixing since the proportionality factors exhibit a dependence on the spectral width of the non-quasiparticle excitations and on the underlying lattice. Tuning the parameters of the model, therefore, gives rise to several scenarios for the breakdown of the scaling theory. We discuss them within the Eliashberg approach and estimate the related crossover scales. We also show that the leading order vertex corrections do not change the scaling with temperature or coupling constants.
We analyze quantum criticality at finite temperature for a class of non-Fermi liquids with massless bosons. Finite temperature gives rise to new infrared singularities that invalidate standard perturbative treatments. We show how such divergences are resolved at a nonperturbative level, and obtain the resulting fermion self-energy. This leads to a new ``thermal'' non-Fermi liquid regime that extends over a wide range of frequencies, and which violates finite temperature scaling laws near quantum critical points. We analyze the resulting quantum critical region and properties of the retarded Green's function. More generally, such effects dominate in the nearly static limit and are expected to have a nontrivial impact on superconductivity and transport.
Metallic quantum critical phenomena are believed to play a key role in many strongly correlated materials, including high-temperature superconductors. Theoretically, the problem of quantum criticality in the presence of a Fermi surface has proven to be highly challenging. However, it has recently been realized that many models used to describe such systems are amenable to numerically exact solution by quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques, without suffering from the fermion sign problem. In this review, we examine the status of the understanding of metallic quantum criticality and the recent progress made by QMC simulations. We focus on the cases of spin-density wave and Ising nematic criticality. We describe the results obtained so far and their implications for superconductivity, non-Fermi liquid behavior, and transport near metallic quantum critical points. Some of the outstanding puzzles and future directions are highlighted.