Based on recent experimental evidence for a spin-polarized ground state in the insulating phase of the two-dimensional electron system, we propose that ferromagnetic spin fluctuations lead to an attractive interaction in the triplet channel and cause p-wave pairing in the conducting phase. We use the Landau-Fermi liquid phenomenology to explain how the enhanced spin susceptibility near the critical density yields an attractive potential, in a similar mechanism to superfluidity in ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}.$ As the density is decreased, the p-wave order parameter undergoes a transition from a unitary to a nonunitary state, in which it coexists with ferromagnetism for a range of densities. As the density is further reduced, the pairing amplitude vanishes and the system is described by a ferromagnetic insulator. Thus, we find two quantum critical points as a function of density associated with the polarization of the paired state and ferromagnetism. We explain the magnetotransport measurements in parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields and propose a shot-noise experiment to measure the pair charge.
Based on recent experimental evidence for a spin-polarized ground state in the insulating phase of the two-dimensional electron system, we propose that ferromagnetic spin fluctuations lead to an attractive interaction in the triplet channel and cause p-wave pairing in the conducting phase. We use the Landau-Fermi liquid phenomenology to explain how the enhanced spin susceptibility near the critical density yields an attractive potential, in a similar mechanism to superfluidity in 3He. As the density is decreased, the p-wave order parameter undergoes a transition from a unitary to a nonunitary state, in which it coexists with ferromagnetism for a range of densities. As the density is further reduced, the pairing amplitude vanishes and the system is described by a ferromagnetic insulator. Thus, we find two quantum critical points as a function of density associated with the polarization of the paired state and ferromagnetism. We explain the magnetotransport measurements in parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields and propose a shot-noise experiment to measure the pair charge.
The self-energy, spectral functions, and susceptibilities of two-dimensional systems with strong ferromagnetic fluctuations are considered within the quasistatic approach. The self-energy at low temperatures T has a non-Fermi-liquid form in the energy window $\ensuremath{\mid}\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\mid}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{0}$ near the Fermi level, where ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{0}$ is the ground-state spin splitting for magnetically ordered ground state, and ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{0}\ensuremath{\propto}{T}^{1∕2}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{ln}}^{1∕2}({v}_{F}∕T)$ in the quantum critical regime (vF is the Fermi velocity). Spectral functions have a two-peak structure at finite T above the magnetically ordered ground state, which implies quasisplitting of the Fermi surface in the paramagnetic phase in the presence of strong ferromagnetic fluctuations. The triplet pairing amplitude in the quasistatic approximation increases with increasing correlation length; at low temperatures $T⪡{\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{0}$ the vertex corrections become important and the Eliashberg approach is not justified. The results for the spectral properties and susceptibilities in the quantum critical regime near charge (spin) instabilities with large enough correlation length $\ensuremath{\xi}⪢{(T∕{v}_{F})}^{\ensuremath{-}1∕3}$ are obtained.
We present a theory of the metal-insulator transition in a disordered two-dimensional electron gas. A quantum critical point, separating the metallic phase, which is stabilized by electronic interactions, from the insulating phase, where disorder prevails over the electronic interactions, has been identified. The existence of the quantum critical point leads to a divergence in the density of states of the underlying collective modes at the transition, causing the thermodynamic properties to behave critically as the transition is approached. We show that the interplay of electron-electron interactions and disorder can explain the observed transport properties and the anomalous enhancement of the spin susceptibility near the metal-insulator transition.
An interacting electron liquid in two (2D) and three (3D) dimensions may undergo a paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic quantum spin polarization transition at zero applied magnetic field, driven entirely by exchange interactions, as the system density (n) is decreased. This is known as Bloch ferromagnetism. We show theoretically that the application of an external magnetic field (B), which directly spin polarizes the system through Zeeman spin splitting, has an interesting effect on Bloch ferromagnetism if the applied field and carrier density are both decreased (from some initial applied high magnetic field at a high carrier density) in a power-law manner, $B\ensuremath{\sim}{n}^{p}$. For p<pc, with pc=1(2/3) in 2(3)D, the system remains either fully spin polarized or undergoes a single transition from a partially spin-polarized (with two Fermi surfaces corresponding to spin up and down electrons) to a fully spin-polarized state (with a single Fermi surface of one spin) as the density and field decrease, depending on whether the starting point is partially spin polarized or fully spin polarized. However, for p>pc, the system may undergo two transitions if starting from the fully spin-polarized state: first, a weak second-order transition at high density and field from the field-induced fully polarized phase to the partially polarized phase; and then, at a lower field and density, a reentrant first-order transition back to the fully spin-polarized phase again with a single Fermi surface.
We study superfluidity in strongly correlated systems by focusing three features as follows. First, interplay between superfluidity and other order parameters near quantum critical points is studied. The onset positions of the order parameters with or without superconductivity determines how they interact with each other. For the spin density wave (SDW) transition, we find that the quantum critical point shifts by order |∆|, where ∆ is pairing amplitude, so that the region of SDW order is smaller in the superconductor than in the metal. This shift is larger than the |∆|2 shift predicted by theories of competing orders which ignore Fermi surface effects. Second, we study a doped antiferromagnetic Mott insulator motivated by copper based high temperature superconductors. Based on spin and charge fractionalization, the algebraic charge liquid phase whose bosonic spinons have energy gap but fermionic holons form Fermi surfaces and its superconductivity are studied. We show fluctuations of local SDW order orientation lead to d-wave superconductivity, and its quantum critical pairing mechanisms are investigated. Also, a theory of bound states between spinons and holons is studied. We show that the fractionalization induces a doubling electron-like quasiparticles, which naturally induces the fractionalized Fermi liquid. The bound state theory describes exotic properties of the underdoped Cuprates such as “nodal-antinodal dichotomy” at a mean field level description. At last, we study superfluidity of fermions in optical lattices near the Feshbach resonance. Due to divergence of scattering length at the resonance, universality is observed and characteristics of superfluidity has been studied. We extend such universal properties by considering superfluid-insulator transition with an even integer number of fermions per unit cell. The resulting insulator interpolates between a band insulator of fermions and a Mott insulator of fermion pairs.
Alexander Shashkin Institute of Solid State Physics, Chernogolovka, Moscow District 142432, Russia Sergey Kravchenko Physics Department, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, U.S.A. Two-dimensional (2D) electron systems are realized when the electrons are free to move in a plane but their motion perpendicular to the plane is quantized in a confining potential well. Quantum phase transitions realized experimentally in such systems so far include metal-insulator transitions in perpendicular magnetic fields, metal-insulator transition in zero magnetic field, and a possible transition to a Wigner crystal. The first transition is governed by the externally controlled electron density or magnetic field, while the other two are governed by the electron density. At low electron densities in 2D systems, the strongly-interacting limit is reached because the kinetic energy is overwhelmed by the energy of electron-electron interactions. The interaction strength is characterized by the ratio between the Coulomb energy and the Fermi energy, r∗s = Eee/EF . Assuming that the effective electron mass is equal to the band mass, the interaction parameter r∗s in the single-valley case reduces to the Wigner-Seitz radius, rs = 1/(πns)1/2aB, and therefore increases as the electron density, ns, decreases (here aB is the Bohr radius in the semiconductor). Possible candidates for the ground state of the system include a Wigner crystal characterized by spatial and spin ordering [1], a ferromagnetic Fermi liquid with spontaneous spin ordering [2], a paramagnetic Fermi liquid [3], etc. In the strongly-interacting limit (rs 1), no analytical theory has been developed to date. According to numerical simulations [4], Wigner crystallization is expected in a very dilute regime, when rs reaches approximately 35. Refined numerical simulations [5] have predicted that prior to the crystallization, in the range of the interaction parameter 25 ≤ rs ≤ 35, the ground state of the system is a strongly correlated ferromagnetic Fermi liquid. At higher electron densities, rs ∼ 1, the electron liquid is expected to be paramagnetic, with the effective mass, m, and Lande´ g factor renormalized by interactions. Apart from the ferromagnetic Fermi liquid, other intermediate phases between the Wigner crystal and the paramagnetic Fermi liquid may also exist.
Two-dimensional ferromagnetic electron gases subject to random scalar potentials and Rashba spin-orbit interactions exhibit a striking quantum criticality. As disorder strength W increases, such a system undergoes two transitions. It first changes from a normal diffusive metal consisting of extended states to a marginal metal consisting of critical states at a critical disorder Wc,1. Another transition from the marginal metal to an insulator occurs at a stronger disorder Wc,2. Through highly accurate numerical procedures based on the recursive Green's function and the exact diagonalization methods, we elucidate the nature of the quantum criticality and the properties of the pertinent states. The conductance is described by an unorthodox one-parameter scaling law: Conductance of various system sizes and disorders collapse into two branches of a scaling curve corresponding to diffusive metal and insulating phases with an exponentially diverging correlation length, $\ensuremath{\xi}\ensuremath{\propto}exp[\ensuremath{\alpha}/\sqrt{|W\ensuremath{-}{W}_{c}|}]$, near transition points. Finite-size scaling analysis of the inverse participation ratio reveals that the states of the marginal metal are fractals of a universal fractal dimension $D=1.90\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02$, while those of the diffusive metal spread over the whole system with D=2 and states in the insulating phase are localized with D=0. The phase diagram for diffusive metals, marginal metals, and the Anderson insulators is plotted in the disorder-magnetic-coupling plane.