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arXiv:cond-mat/0408573

Quantum criticality and the metal-insulator transition in 2D: a critical test

Baharak Hosseinkhani, Jan Zaanen

Published Aug 26, 2004• 0 citations
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Abstract

Using recent insights obtained in heavy fermion physics on the thermodynamic singularity structure associated with quantum phase transitions, we present here an experimental strategy to establish if the zero-temperature transition in the disordered two dimensional gas is a real quantum phase transition. We derive a overcomplete set of scaling laws relating the density and temperature dependence of the chemical potential and the effective mass, which are in principle verifyable by experiment.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0408573

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Using recent insights obtained in heavy fermion physics on the thermodynamic singularity structure associated with quantum phase transitions, we present here an experimental strategy to establish if the zero-temperature transition in the disordered two dimensional gas is a real quantum phase transition. We derive a overcomplete set of scaling laws relating the density and temperature dependence of the chemical potential and the effective mass, which are in principle verifyable by experiment.
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Motivated by the recent experimental observation of an intermediate bosonic metallic state in the two-dimensional superconductor-insulator transition at T=0T=0T=0, we study an extended Bose-Hubbard model in the limit of a large number of particles per site. Using a representation of this in terms of two coupled XYXYXY models, we find, in addition to an insulating phase and a (2+1)D(2+1)\mathrm{D}(2+1)D superfluid phase, two other phases. One phase is a 2D superfluid phase where a crossover from (2+1)D(2+1)\mathrm{D}(2+1)D to 2D has taken place as a result of incipient charge ordering, signaled by $\ensuremath{\theta}$ disordering, and which is closely related to a supersolid phase. The other new phase is an edge metal state characterized by zero superfluid stiffness, zero charge ordering, and zero bulk compressibility. However, the edge compressibility of the system is nonzero. While we do not find any intermediate state with 2D metallic conductivity, we are able to connect these results to STM experiments on MoS2{\mathrm{MoS}}_{2}MoS2​ showing brims of finite density of states around the entire edge of 2D MoS2{\mathrm{MoS}}_{2}MoS2​ samples.
The quantum phase transition observed experimentally in two-dimensional (2D) electron systems has been a subject of theoretical and experimental studies for almost 30 years. We suggest Gaussian approximation to the mean-field theory of the second-order phase transition to explain the experimental data. Our approach explains self-consistently the universal value of the critical exponent 3/2 (found after scaling measured resistivities on both sides of the transition as a function of temperature) as the result of the divergence of the correlation length when the electron density approaches the critical value. We also provide numerical evidence for the stretched exponential temperature dependence of the metallic phase's resistivities in a wide range of temperatures and show that it leads to correct qualitative results. Finally, we interpret the phase diagram on the density-temperature plane exhibiting the quantum critical point, quantum critical trajectory and two crossover lines. Our research presents a theoretical description of the seminal experimental results.
Divergent carrier-density fluctuations equivalent to the critical opalescence of gas-liquid transitions emerge around a metal-insulator critical point at a finite temperature. In contrast to the gas-liquid transitions, however, the critical temperature can be lowered to zero, which offers a challenging quantum phase transition. We present a microscopic description of such quantum critical phenomena in two dimensions. The conventional scheme of phase transitions by Ginzburg, Landau and Wilson is violated and an unconventional universality appears. It offers a clear insight into the criticalities of metal-insulator transitions associated with Mott or charge-order transitions. Fermi degeneracy involving the diverging density fluctuations generates emergent phenomena near the endpoint of the first-order transition and must shed new light on remarkable phenomena found in correlated metals like unconventional cuprate superconductors. It indeed accounts for otherwise puzzling criticality of the Mott transition recently discovered in an organic conductor. We propose to measure enhanced dielectric fluctuations at small wavenumbers by accurate probes.
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.