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arXiv:2004.02302

Mott transition and high-temperature crossovers at half-filling

Alexis Reymbaut, M. Boulay, Lorenzo Fratino, P. Sémon, Wéi Wú, G. Sordi, A.–M. S. Tremblay

Published Apr 5, 2020• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The interaction-driven Mott transition in the half-filled Hubbard model is a first-order phase transition that terminates at a critical point $(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})$ in the temperature-interaction plane $T-U$. A number of crossovers occur along lines that extend for some range above $(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})$. Asymptotically close to $(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})$, these lines coalesce into the so-called Widom line. The existence of $(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})$ and of the associated crossovers becomes unclear when long-wavelength fluctuations or long-range order occur above $(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})$. We study this problem using continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo methods as impurity solvers for both Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (DMFT) and Cellular Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (CDMFT). We contrast the cases of the square lattice, where antiferromagnetic fluctuations dominate in the vicinity of the Mott transition, and the triangular lattice where they do not. The inflexion points and maxima found near the Widom line for the square lattice can serve as proxy for the triangular lattice case. But the only crossover observable in all cases at sufficiently high temperature is that associated with the opening of the Mott gap. The same physics also controls an analog crossover in the resistivity called the "Quantum Widom line".

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2004.02302

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The interaction-driven Mott transition in the half-filled Hubbard model is a first-order phase transition that terminates at a critical point (Tc,Uc)(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})(Tc​,Uc​) in the temperature-interaction plane T−UT-UT−U. A number of crossovers occur along lines that extend for some range above (Tc,Uc)(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})(Tc​,Uc​). Asymptotically close to (Tc,Uc)(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})(Tc​,Uc​), these lines coalesce into the so-called Widom line. The existence of (Tc,Uc)(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})(Tc​,Uc​) and of the associated crossovers becomes unclear when long-wavelength fluctuations or long-range order occur above (Tc,Uc)(T_\mathrm{c},U_\mathrm{c})(Tc​,Uc​). We study this problem using continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo methods as impurity solvers for both Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (DMFT) and Cellular Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (CDMFT). We contrast the cases of the square lattice, where antiferromagnetic fluctuations dominate in the vicinity of the Mott transition, and the triangular lattice where they do not. The inflexion points and maxima found near the Widom line for the square lattice can serve as proxy for the triangular lattice case. But the only crossover observable in all cases at sufficiently high temperature is that associated with the opening of the Mott gap. The same physics also controls an analog crossover in the resistivity called the "Quantum Widom line".
The Mott transition is observed experimentally in materials that are magnetically frustrated so that long-range order does not hide the Mott transition at finite temperature. The Hubbard model on the triangular lattice at half filling is a paradigmatic model to study the interplay of interactions and frustration on the normal-state phase diagram. We use the dynamical cluster approximation with continuous-time auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo to solve this model for 1-, 4-, 6-, 12-, and 16-site clusters with detailed analysis performed for the 6-site cluster. We show that (a) for every cluster there is an inflection point in the double occupancy as a function of interaction, defining a Widom line that extends above the critical point of the first-order Mott transition; (b) the presence of this line and the cluster size dependence argue for the observability of the Mott transition at finite temperature in the thermodynamic limit; and (c) the loss of spectral weight in the metal-to-Mott-insulator transition as a function of temperature and for strong interactions is momentum dependent, the hallmark of a pseudogap. That pseudogap spans a large region of the phase diagram near the Mott transition.
The experimentally established phase diagram of the half-filled Hubbard model features the existence of three distinct finite-temperature regimes, separated by extended crossover regions. A number of crossover lines can be defined to span those regions, which we explore in quantitative detail within the framework of dynamical mean-field theory. Most significantly, the high-temperature crossover between the bad metal and Mott-insulator regimes displays a number of phenomena marking the gradual development of the Mott insulating state. We discuss the quantum critical scaling behavior found in this regime, and propose methods to facilitate its possible experimental observation. We also introduce the concept of quantum Widom lines and present a detailed discussion that highlights its physical meaning when used in the context of quantum-phase transitions.
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 properties of a phase with large correlation length can be strongly influenced by the underlying normal phase. We illustrate this by studying the half-filled two-dimensional Hubbard model using cellular dynamical mean-field theory with continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo. Sharp crossovers in the mechanism that favors antiferromagnetic correlations and in the corresponding local density of states are observed. These crossovers occur at values of the interaction strength UUU and temperature TTT that are controlled by the underlying normal-state Mott transition.
We employ dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) with a quantum Monte Carlo atomic solver to investigate the finite-temperature Mott transition in the Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor hopping on a triangular lattice at half-filling. We estimate the value of the critical interaction to be ${U}_{c}=12.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5$ in units of the hopping amplitude ttt through the evolution of the magnetic moment, spectral function, internal energy, and specific heat as the interaction UUU and temperature TTT are varied. This work also presents a comparison between DMFT and finite-size determinant quantum Monte Carlo calculations and a discussion of the advantages and limitations of both methods.
At the Mott transition, electron-electron interaction changes a metal, in which electrons are itinerant, to an insulator, in which electrons are localized. This phenomenon is central to quantum materials. Here we contribute to its understanding by studying the two-dimensional Hubbard model at finite temperature with plaquette cellular dynamical mean-field theory. We provide an exhaustive thermodynamic description of the correlation-driven Mott transition of the half-filled model by calculating pressure, charge compressibility, entropy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and free energy across the first-order Mott transition and its high-temperature crossover (Widom line). The entropy is extracted from the Gibbs-Duhem relation and shows complex behavior near the transition, marked by discontinuous jumps at the first-order boundary, singular behavior at the Mott endpoint, and inflections marking sharp variations in the supercritical region. The free energy allows us to identify the thermodynamic phase boundary, to discuss phases stability and metastability, and to touch upon nucleation and spinodal decomposition mechanisms for the transition. We complement this thermodynamic description of the Mott transition by an information-theoretic description. We achieve this by calculating the local entropy, which is a measure of entanglement, and the single-site total mutual information, which quantifies quantum and classical correlations. These information-theoretic measures exhibit characteristic behaviors that allow us to identify the first-order coexistence regions, the Mott critical endpoint and the crossovers along the Widom line in the supercritical region.