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Interacting birefringent electrons: Marginal- or non-Fermi liquid of spin-1/2 fermions

Bitan Roy, Malcolm P. Kennett, Vladimir Juričić, Kun Yang

Published Feb 6, 2018• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

We present the quantum critical theory of an interacting nodal Fermi-liquid of quasi-relativisitc (pseudo)-spin-3/2 fermions that have a non-interacting \emph{birefringent} spectrum with \emph{two} distinct Fermi velocities. When such quasiparticles interact with gapless bosonic degrees of freedom that mediate either the long-range Coulomb interaction or its short range component (responsible for spontaneous symmetry breaking), in the deep infrared or quantum critical regime in two dimensions the system is respectively described by a \emph{marginal-} or a \emph{non-Fermi liquid} of relativistic spin-1/2 fermions (possessing a \emph{unique} velocity), and is always a \emph{marginal Fermi liquid} in three dimensions. We consider a possible generalization of these scenarios to fermions with an arbitrary half-odd-integer spin, and conjecture that critical spin-1/2 excitations represent a \emph{superuniversal} description of the entire family of interacting quasi-relativistic fermions.

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We present the quantum critical theory of an interacting nodal Fermi-liquid of quasi-relativisitc (pseudo)-spin-3/2 fermions that have a non-interacting \emph{birefringent} spectrum with \emph{two} distinct Fermi velocities. When such quasiparticles interact with gapless bosonic degrees of freedom that mediate either the long-range Coulomb interaction or its short range component (responsible for spontaneous symmetry breaking), in the deep infrared or quantum critical regime in two dimensions the system is respectively described by a \emph{marginal-} or a \emph{non-Fermi liquid} of relativistic spin-1/2 fermions (possessing a \emph{unique} velocity), and is always a \emph{marginal Fermi liquid} in three dimensions. We consider a possible generalization of these scenarios to fermions with an arbitrary half-odd-integer spin, and conjecture that critical spin-1/2 excitations represent a \emph{superuniversal} description of the entire family of interacting quasi-relativistic fermions.
We present the quantum critical theory of an interacting nodal Fermi liquid of quasirelativistic pseudospin-3/2 fermions that have a noninteracting birefringent spectrum with two distinct Fermi velocities. When such quasiparticles interact with gapless bosonic degrees of freedom that mediate either the long-range Coulomb interaction or its short range component (responsible for spontaneous symmetry breaking), in the deep infrared or quantum critical regime in two dimensions, the system is, respectively, described by a marginal- or a non-Fermi liquid of relativistic spin-1/2 fermions (possessing a unique velocity), and is always a marginal Fermi liquid in three dimensions. We consider a possible generalization of these scenarios to fermions with an arbitrary half-odd-integer spin, and conjecture that critical spin-1/2 excitations represent a superuniversal description of the entire family of interacting quasirelativistic fermions.
Abstract The system consisting of (2+1)-dimensional quasirelativistic birefringent Dirac fermions with Coulomb interactions and retarded current–current interactions is described by a quantum field theory similar to reduced quantum electrodynamics. We used the perturbative renormalization group method to study the low-energy behavior of the system and found that it flows to a fixed point of the non-Fermi liquid composed of relativistic pseudospin-1/2 Dirac fermions in the deep infrared limit. At the fixed point, the fermion Green function exhibits a finite anomalous dimension, and the residue of the quasiparticle pole vanishes in a power-law fashion. Our research provides new theoretical perspectives for understanding the origin of spin-1/2 fermions in the standard model.
We develop a general theory of fermion liquids in spatial dimensions greater than 1. The principal method, bosonization, is applied to the cases of short- and long-range longitudinal interactions and to transverse gauge interactions. All the correlation funtions of the system may be obtained with the use of a generating functional. Short-range and Coulomb interactions do not destroy the Landau-Fermi fixed point. Non-Fermi liquid fixed points are found, however, in the cases of a super-long-range longitudinal interaction in two dimensions and transverse gauge interactions in two and three spatial dimensions. We consider in some detail the (2+1)-dimensional problem of a Chern-Simons gauge action combined with a longitudinal two-body interaction V(q)\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{\Vert}q${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Vert}}}^{\mathit{y}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$, which controls the density, and hence gauge, fluctuations. For y0 we find that the gauge interaction is irrelevant and the Landau fixed point is stable, while for y>0 the interaction is relevant and the fixed point cannot be accessed by bosonization. Of special importance is the case y=0 (Coulomb interaction), which describes the Halperin-Lee-Read theory of the half-filled Landau level. We obtain the full quasiparticle propagator, which is of a marginal Fermi-liquid form. Using Ward identities, we show that neither the inclusion of nonlinear terms in the fermion dispersion nor vertex corrections alters our results: the fixed point is accessible by bosonization. As the two-point fermion Green's function is not gauge invariant, we also invetigate the gauge-invariant density response function. Near momentum Q=2kF{\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{F}}kF​, in addition to the Kohn anomaly we find other nonanalytic behavior. In the appendies we present a numerical calculation of the spectral function for a Fermi liquid with Landau parameter f0{\mathit{f}}_{0}f0​\ensuremath{\ne}0. We also show how Kohn's theorem is satisfied within the bosonization framework.
We study the effects of Coulomb interaction between 2D Weyl fermions with anisotropic dispersion which displays relativistic dynamics along one direction and nonrelativistic dynamics along the other. Such a dispersion can be realized in phosphorene under electric field or strain, in TiO_{2}/VO_{2} superlattices, and, more generally, at the quantum critical point between a nodal semimetal and an insulator in systems with a chiral symmetry. Using the one-loop renormalization group approach in combination with the large-N expansion, we find that the system displays interaction-driven non-Fermi liquid behavior in a wide range of intermediate frequencies and marginal Fermi liquid behavior at the smallest frequencies. In the non-Fermi liquid regime, the quasiparticle residue Z at energy E scales as Z∝E^{a} with a>0, and the parameters of the fermionic dispersion acquire anomalous dimensions. In the marginal Fermi-liquid regime, Z∝(|logE|)^{-b} with universal b=3/2.
A renormalization-group analysis combined with bosonization is performed for fermions interacting with repulsive long-range interaction of the form V(R)\ensuremath{\simeq}1/${\mathit{R}}^{(1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}\mathrm{^})}$, 0^\ensuremath{\le}1; we find that in any dimension the system is a non-Fermi liquid with a quasiparticle weight which vanishes like ${\mathit{w}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}\mathrm{^}/4}$ when w\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0. For \ensuremath{\epsilon}^\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0 a marginal Fermi liquid is obtained. A nonperturbative solution is obtained using the bosonization method in d\ensuremath{\ge}1 dimensions. Within the same formalism we investigate also the electron-phonon interaction in dimensions d=3-\ensuremath{\epsilon}. When the coupling constant is imaginary, one obtains a time-dependent potential similar to what is obtained for fermions coupled to transversed U(1) gauge bosons. A non-Fermi-liquid behavior is found for d\ensuremath{\le}3.
We present a numerical study on the non-Fermi liquid behavior of a three-dimensional strongly correlated system. The Hubbard model in a simple cubic lattice is simulated by the dynamical cluster approximation; in particular, the quasi-particle weight is calculated at finite dopings for a range of temperatures. By fitting the quasi-particle weight to the marginal Fermi liquid form at finite doping near the putative quantum critical point, we find evidence of a separatrix between Fermi liquid and non-Fermi liquid regions. Our results suggest that a marginal Fermi liquid and possibly a quantum critical point exist in the non-symmetry broken solution of the three-dimensional interacting electron systems. We also calculate the spectral function, close to the half-filling, and we obtain evidence of pseudogap.