We investigate the continuous quantum phase transition from an antiferromagnetic metal to a heavy-fermion liquid based on the Kondo lattice model in two dimensions. We propose that antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and conduction electrons fractionalize into neutral bosonic spinons and charged spinless fermions at the quantum critical point. This deconfined quantum criticality leads us to establish a critical field theory in terms of the fractionalized fields interacting via emergent U(1) gauge fields. The critical field theory not only predicts non-Fermi liquid physics near the quantum critical point but also recovers Fermi liquid physics away from the quantum critical point.We investigate the continuous quantum phase transition from an antiferromagnetic metal to a heavy-fermion liquid based on the Kondo lattice model in two dimensions. We propose that antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and conduction electrons fractionalize into neutral bosonic spinons and charged spinless fermions at the quantum critical point. This deconfined quantum criticality leads us to establish a critical field theory in terms of the fractionalized fields interacting via emergent U(1) gauge fields. The critical field theory not only predicts non-Fermi liquid physics near the quantum critical point but also recovers Fermi liquid physics away from the quantum critical point.

arXiv:cond-mat/0505230Physical Review BOct 28, 20054 citations

Problems in the Theory of Strongly Spin-Fluctuating Fermi Liquids

P. J. Hirschfeld

Jan 1, 19840 citations

Continuous transitions between composite Fermi liquid and Landau Fermi liquid: A route to fractionalized Mott insulators

Maissam Barkeshli, John McGreevy

One of the most successful theories of a non-Fermi-liquid metallic state is the composite Fermi-liquid (CFL) theory of the half-filled Landau level. In this paper, we study continuous quantum phase transitions out of the CFL state and into a Landau Fermi liquid, in the limit of no disorder and fixed particle number. This transition can be induced by tuning the bandwidth of the Landau level relative to the interaction energy, for instance through an externally applied periodic potential. We find a transition to the Landau Fermi liquid through a gapless Mott insulator with a Fermi surface of neutral fermionic excitations. In the presence of spatial symmetries, we also find a direct continuous transition between the CFL and the Landau Fermi liquid. The transitions have a number of characteristic observable signatures, including the presence of two crossover temperature scales, resistivity jumps, and vanishing compressibility. When the composite fermions are paired instead, our results imply quantum critical points between various non-Abelian topological states, including the $\ensuremath{\nu}=1/2$ Moore-Read Pfaffian [Ising $\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$ $U(1)$ topological order], a version of the Kitaev B phase (Ising topological order), and paired electronic superconductors. To study such transitions, we use a projective construction of the CFL, which goes beyond the conventional framework of flux attachment to include a broader set of quantum fluctuations. These considerations suggest a possible route to fractionalized Mott insulators by starting with fractional quantum Hall states and tuning the Landau-level bandwidth.One of the most successful theories of a non-Fermi-liquid metallic state is the composite Fermi-liquid (CFL) theory of the half-filled Landau level. In this paper, we study continuous quantum phase transitions out of the CFL state and into a Landau Fermi liquid, in the limit of no disorder and fixed particle number. This transition can be induced by tuning the bandwidth of the Landau level relative to the interaction energy, for instance through an externally applied periodic potential. We find a transition to the Landau Fermi liquid through a gapless Mott insulator with a Fermi surface of neutral fermionic excitations. In the presence of spatial symmetries, we also find a direct continuous transition between the CFL and the Landau Fermi liquid. The transitions have a number of characteristic observable signatures, including the presence of two crossover temperature scales, resistivity jumps, and vanishing compressibility. When the composite fermions are paired instead, our results imply quantum critical points between various non-Abelian topological states, including the $\ensuremath{\nu}=1/2$ Moore-Read Pfaffian [Ising $\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$ $U(1)$ topological order], a version of the Kitaev B phase (Ising topological order), and paired electronic superconductors. To study such transitions, we use a projective construction of the CFL, which goes beyond the conventional framework of flux attachment to include a broader set of quantum fluctuations. These considerations suggest a possible route to fractionalized Mott insulators by starting with fractional quantum Hall states and tuning the Landau-level bandwidth.

arXiv:1206.6530Physical Review BAug 21, 201239 citations

Dynamics of fermi liquids

Jagdish Prasad Singh

Jun 30, 19830 citations

Roton Fermi liquid: A metallic phase of two-dimensional electrons

Leon Balents, Matthew P. A. Fisher

We introduce and analyze a metallic phase of two-dimensional $(2\mathrm{D})$ electrons, the roton Fermi liquid (RFL), which, in contrast to the Landau--Fermi liquid, supports both gapless fermionic and bosonic quasiparticle excitations. The RFL is accessed using a reformulation of $2\mathrm{D}$ electrons consisting of fermionic quasiparticles and $hc∕2e$ vortices interacting with a mutual long-ranged statistical interaction. In the presence of a strong vortex-antivortex (i.e., roton) hopping term, the RFL phase emerges as an exotic yet eminently tractable quantum ground state. The RFL phase exhibits a ``Bose surface'' of gapless roton excitations describing transverse current fluctuations, has off-diagonal quasi-long-ranged order at zero temperature $(T=0)$ , but is not superconducting, having zero superfluid density and no Meissner effect. The electrical resistance vanishes as $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ with a power of temperature (and frequency), $R(T)\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ (with $\ensuremath{\gamma}>1$), independent of the impurity concentration. The RFL phase also has a full Fermi surface of quasiparticle excitations just as in a Landau--Fermi liquid. Electrons can, however, scatter anomalously from rotonic ``current fluctuations'' and ``superconducting fluctuations.'' Current fluctuations induced by the gapless rotons scatter anomalously only at ``hot spots'' on the Fermi surface (with tangents parallel to the crystalline axes), while superconducting fluctuations give rise to an anomalous lifetime over the entire Fermi surface except near the (incipient) nodal points (``cold spots''). Fermionic quasiparticles dominate the Hall electrical transport. We also find three dominant instabilities of the RFL phase: an instability to a conventional Fermi-liquid phase driven by vortex condensation, a BCS-type instability toward fermion pairing, and a (nonpairing) superconducting instability. Precisely at the instability into the Fermi-liquid state, the exponent $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ saturates the bound, $\ensuremath{\gamma}=1$, so that $R(T)\ensuremath{\sim}T$. Upon entering the superconducting state the rotons are gapped out, and the anomalous quasiparticle scattering is strongly suppressed. We discuss how the RFL phase might underlie the strange metallic state of the cuprates near optimal doping, and outline a phenomenological picture to accommodate the underdoped pseudogap regime and the overdoped Landau--Fermi-liquid phase.We introduce and analyze a metallic phase of two-dimensional $(2\mathrm{D})$ electrons, the roton Fermi liquid (RFL), which, in contrast to the Landau--Fermi liquid, supports both gapless fermionic and bosonic quasiparticle excitations. The RFL is accessed using a reformulation of $2\mathrm{D}$ electrons consisting of fermionic quasiparticles and $hc∕2e$ vortices interacting with a mutual long-ranged statistical interaction. In the presence of a strong vortex-antivortex (i.e., roton) hopping term, the RFL phase emerges as an exotic yet eminently tractable quantum ground state. The RFL phase exhibits a ``Bose surface'' of gapless roton excitations describing transverse current fluctuations, has off-diagonal quasi-long-ranged order at zero temperature $(T=0)$, but is not superconducting, having zero superfluid density and no Meissner effect. The electrical resistance vanishes as $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ with a power of temperature (and frequency), $R(T)\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ (with $\ensuremath{\gamma}>1$), independent of the impurity concentration. The RFL phase also has a full Fermi surface of quasiparticle excitations just as in a Landau--Fermi liquid. Electrons can, however, scatter anomalously from rotonic ``current fluctuations'' and ``superconducting fluctuations.'' Current fluctuations induced by the gapless rotons scatter anomalously only at ``hot spots'' on the Fermi surface (with tangents parallel to the crystalline axes), while superconducting fluctuations give rise to an anomalous lifetime over the entire Fermi surface except near the (incipient) nodal points (``cold spots''). Fermionic quasiparticles dominate the Hall electrical transport. We also find three dominant instabilities of the RFL phase: an instability to a conventional Fermi-liquid phase driven by vortex condensation, a BCS-type instability toward fermion pairing, and a (nonpairing) superconducting instability. Precisely at the instability into the Fermi-liquid state, the exponent $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ saturates the bound, $\ensuremath{\gamma}=1$, so that $R(T)\ensuremath{\sim}T$. Upon entering the superconducting state the rotons are gapped out, and the anomalous quasiparticle scattering is strongly suppressed. We discuss how the RFL phase might underlie the strange metallic state of the cuprates near optimal doping, and outline a phenomenological picture to accommodate the underdoped pseudogap regime and the overdoped Landau--Fermi-liquid phase.

arXiv:cond-mat/0307446Physical Review BFeb 28, 200513 citations

U(1)

topological order], a version of the Kitaev B phase (Ising topological order), and paired electronic superconductors. To study such transitions, we use a projective construction of the CFL, which goes beyond the conventional framework of flux attachment to include a broader set of quantum fluctuations. These considerations suggest a possible route to fractionalized Mott insulators by starting with fractional quantum Hall states and tuning the Landau-level bandwidth.

We introduce and analyze a metallic phase of two-dimensional

(2\mathrm{D})

electrons, the roton Fermi liquid (RFL), which, in contrast to the Landau--Fermi liquid, supports both gapless fermionic and bosonic quasiparticle excitations. The RFL is accessed using a reformulation of

2\mathrm{D}

electrons consisting of fermionic quasiparticles and

hc∕2e

vortices interacting with a mutual long-ranged statistical interaction. In the presence of a strong vortex-antivortex (i.e., roton) hopping term, the RFL phase emerges as an exotic yet eminently tractable quantum ground state. The RFL phase exhibits a ``Bose surface'' of gapless roton excitations describing transverse current fluctuations, has off-diagonal quasi-long-ranged order at zero temperature

(T=0)

, but is not superconducting, having zero superfluid density and no Meissner effect. The electrical resistance vanishes as $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ with a power of temperature (and frequency), $R(T)\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ (with $\ensuremath{\gamma}>1$), independent of the impurity concentration. The RFL phase also has a full Fermi surface of quasiparticle excitations just as in a Landau--Fermi liquid. Electrons can, however, scatter anomalously from rotonic ``current fluctuations'' and ``superconducting fluctuations.'' Current fluctuations induced by the gapless rotons scatter anomalously only at ``hot spots'' on the Fermi surface (with tangents parallel to the crystalline axes), while superconducting fluctuations give rise to an anomalous lifetime over the entire Fermi surface except near the (incipient) nodal points (``cold spots''). Fermionic quasiparticles dominate the Hall electrical transport. We also find three dominant instabilities of the RFL phase: an instability to a conventional Fermi-liquid phase driven by vortex condensation, a BCS-type instability toward fermion pairing, and a (nonpairing) superconducting instability. Precisely at the instability into the Fermi-liquid state, the exponent $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ saturates the bound, $\ensuremath{\gamma}=1$, so that $R(T)\ensuremath{\sim}T$. Upon entering the superconducting state the rotons are gapped out, and the anomalous quasiparticle scattering is strongly suppressed. We discuss how the RFL phase might underlie the strange metallic state of the cuprates near optimal doping, and outline a phenomenological picture to accommodate the underdoped pseudogap regime and the overdoped Landau--Fermi-liquid phase.