In this brief overview, I address some of the fundamental topics related to the physics of strongly correlated fermions, which have been also the subject of my research. After addressing the question why the field has a fundamental meaning, we next turn to the specific problems with their simple theoretical description. Those topics are: (i) the concept of spindependent masses of heavy particles and its subsequent experimental verification; (ii) the correlated metal–insulator transitions of the Mott–Hubbardtype; (iii) real space pairing and its subsequent experimental verification for high-temperature superconducting cuprates. I mention also the persistence of quantum spin and charge excitations in the superconducting phase. All those phenomena confirm the view that the strongly correlated fermionic \nsystems represent a new class of quantum liquids, with some properties quantitatively different than those of the Landau Fermi liquids. Namely, they can be classified as those that fall in between those of the anomalous Landau Fermi liquid and localized-magnetic-moment system.
In this brief overview, I address some of the fundamental topics related to the physics of strongly correlated fermions, which have been also the subject of my research. After addressing the question why the field has a fundamental meaning, we next turn to the specific problems with their simple theoretical description. Those topics are: (i) the concept of spindependent masses of heavy particles and its subsequent experimental verification; (ii) the correlated metal–insulator transitions of the Mott–Hubbardtype; (iii) real space pairing and its subsequent experimental verification for high-temperature superconducting cuprates. I mention also the persistence of quantum spin and charge excitations in the superconducting phase. All those phenomena confirm the view that the strongly correlated fermionic \nsystems represent a new class of quantum liquids, with some properties quantitatively different than those of the Landau Fermi liquids. Namely, they can be classified as those that fall in between those of the anomalous Landau Fermi liquid and localized-magnetic-moment system.
This article is aimed at a pedagogical introduction to the physics of quantum phase transitions that is unique to metallic systems. It has been recognized for some time that quantum criticality can result in a breakdown of Landau's Fermi liquid theory. Its converse, however, has not been appreciated until very recently: non-Fermi liquid behavior can in turn lead to new classes of quantum phase transition. A concrete example is provided by ``local quantum critical points''. I summarize the theoretical reasoning and experimental evidence for local quantum criticality, in the context of heavy fermion metals. The underlying physics is likely to be relevant to other correlated electron systems including doped Mott insulators.
Strongly correlated electron systems (SCES) represent a class of quantum materials where electron-electron interactions play a dominant role in determining physical properties, leading to a wide array of exotic phenomena such as high-temperature superconductivity, quantum spin liquids, Mott transitions, and heavy fermion behavior. Unlike weakly interacting systems described adequately by Fermi-liquid theory, SCES require more advanced theoretical frameworks due to the breakdown of single-particle descriptions. This article reviews the fundamental interactions governing SCES, emphasizing Coulomb repulsion, spin-charge separation, and entanglement-driven effects. The role of lattice geometry, orbital degeneracy, and dimensionality is explored to understand emergent behaviors. Through theoretical insights and recent experimental findings, this work outlines how these fundamental interactions shape the rich phase diagrams of SCES and their implications in quantum technologies.
Strongly correlated Fermi systems are among the most intriguing, best experimentally studied and fundamental systems in physics. There is, however, lack of theoretical understanding in this field of physics. The ideas based on the concepts like Kondo lattice and involving quantum and thermal fluctuations at a quantum critical point have been used to explain the unusual physics. Alas, being suggested to describe one property, these approaches fail to explain the others. This means a real crisis in theory suggesting that there is a hidden fundamental law of nature. It turns out that the hidden fundamental law is well forgotten old one directly related to the Landau-Migdal quasiparticles, while the basic properties and the scaling behavior of the strongly correlated systems can be described within the framework of the fermion condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT). The phase transition comprises the extended quasiparticle paradigm that allows us to explain the non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behavior observed in these systems. In contrast to the Landau paradigm stating that the quasiparticle effective mass is a constant, the effective mass of new quasiparticles strongly depends on temperature, magnetic field, pressure, and other parameters. Our observations are in good agreement with experimental facts and show that FCQPT is responsible for the observed NFL behavior and quasiparticles survive both high temperatures and high magnetic fields.
The principal purpose of this topical review is to single out some of the universal features of high-temperature (high-Tc) and related strongly-correlated systems, which can be compared with experiment in a quantitative manner. The description starts with the concept of exchange-interaction-mediated (real-space) pairing, combined with strong correlations among narrow band electrons, for which the reference state is that of the Mott–Hubbard insulator. The physical discussion of concrete properties relies on variational approach, starting from generalized renormalized mean-field theory (RMFT) in the form of statistically-consistent Gutzwiller approximation (SGA), and its subsequent generalization, i.e., a systematic Diagrammatic Expansion of the Variational (Gutzwiller-type) Wave Function (DE-GWF). The solution leads to the two energy scales, one involving unconventional quasiparticles close to the Fermi energy, and the other reflecting the fully correlated state, involving electrons deeper below the Fermi surface. Those two regimes are separated by a kink in the dispersion relation, which is observed in photoemission. As a result, one obtains both the doping dependent properties in the correlated state, and effective renormalized quasiparticles. The reviewed ground-state characteristics for high-Tc systems encompass high-Tc superconductivity, nematicity, charge- (and pair-) density-wave effects, as well as non-BCS kinetic energy gain in the paired state. The calculated dynamic properties are: the universal Fermi velocity, the Fermi wave-vector, the effective mass enhancement, the pseudogap; and the d-wave gap magnitude. We discuss that, within the variational approach, the minimal realistic model is represented by the so-called t-J-U Hamiltonian. Inadequacy of the t-J and Hubbard models, particularly of their RMFT versions, is discussed explicitly. For heavy fermion systems, modeled by the Anderson lattice model and with the DE-GWF approach, we discuss the phase diagram, encompassing superconducting, Kondo insulating, ferro- and anti-ferromagnetic states. The superconducting state is then a two-d-wave gap system. If the orbital degeneracy of f-electrons is included, the coexistent ferromagnetic- (spin–triplet) superconducting phases appear and match those observed for UGe2 in a semiquantitative manner. Finally, in the second part, we generalize our approach to the collective spin and charge fluctuations in high-Tc systems, starting from variational approach, defining the saddle-point state, and combining it with 1/N expansion. The present scheme differs essentially from that starting from the saddle-point Hartree–Fock approximation, and incorporating the fluctuations in the random phase approximation (RPA). The spectrum of collective spin and charge excitations is determined for the Hubbard and t-J-U models, and subsequently compared quantitatively with recent experiments. The Appendices provide formal details to make this review self-contained.
We summarize recent theoretical results of our group concerning the electronic states of the strongly correlated fermions at nonzero temperature. The state of almost localized fermions is discussed within a mean-field approach for auxiliary bosons, both in the narrow-band (Section 2) and in the hybridized band (Section 3) cases. This state represents a metallic state of correlated fermion systems (such as V{sub 2}O{sub 3}) below the Mott-Hubbard localization threshold. The Fermi liquid state does not describe properly the properties of narrow band electrons in the large Hubbard -- U limit beyond the localization threshold. Therefore, in Section 4 and 5 we introduce a phenomenological concept of statistical spin liquid which describes principal features of a crossover from a high-temperature superconductor to the Mott insulator for a two-dimensional system. It also reproduces the main features of the phase diagram for La{sub 2-x}Sr{sub x}CuO{sub 4} system, which is modelled by a planar structure.
Open questions related with heavy electrons, H.R. Ott electron spectroscopy of strongly correlated systems, J.W. Allen single hole in 1D and 2D hubbard model, S. Sorella surface acoustic wave studies of the FQHE, R.L. Willett Chern-Simons-Landau-Ginzburg theory of the FQHE and its experimental prediction, S.C. Zhang magnetic fluctuations in La2-xSrxCuO4, G. Aeppli single particle spectral function for the large U Hubbard model, P. Wolfe strongly correlated systems in infinite dimensions and their zero-dimensional counterpart, G. Kotliar stable hc-e vortices in a gauge theory of superconductivity in strongly correlated systems, S. Sachdev electronic mechanisms for superconductivity in doped C60, G. Baskaran weakly correlated electrons - many questions and few answers, H.J. Schulz normal state properties of the high Tc oxides - gauge theories, L. Loffe single particle and optical gaps in charge-transfer insulators, Y. Bang et al a renormalization group approach for many-Fermion problems, R. Shankar spin singlet quantum hall effect and nonabelian Landau-Ginzburg theory, A. Balatsky De Haas-Van Alphen and Shubnikov-De Haas oscillations in strongly correlated electron gas, P. Lederer et al strongly correlated Fermi liquid and the normal state of high Tc superconductors, Z. Wang determinant Monte Carlo for the Hubbard model with arbitrarily gauged auxiliary fields, A.M. Tremblay spin-charged coupling in doped Mott insulators, J. Wheatley.