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arXiv:cond-mat/0509062 · Physical Review B

Unconventional metal-insulator transition in two dimensions

Manuela Capello, Federico Becca, Seiji Yunoki, Sandro Sorella

Published Jun 27, 2006• 64 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We show, by using a correlated Jastrow wave function and a mapping onto a classical model, that the two-dimensional Mott transition in a simple half-filled one-band model can be unconventional and very similar to the binding-unbinding Kosterlitz-Thouless transition of vortices and antivortices, here identified by empty and doubly occupied sites. Within this framework, electrons strongly interact with collective plasmon excitations that induce anomalous critical properties on both sides of the transition. In particular, the insulating phase is characterized by a singular power-law behavior in the photoemission spectrum, which can be continuously connected to the fully projected insulating state relevant to strongly correlated low-energy models.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.73.245116

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•Jan 1, 2017•0 citations
We show, by using a correlated Jastrow wave function and a mapping onto a classical model, that the two-dimensional Mott transition in a simple half-filled one-band model can be unconventional and very similar to the binding-unbinding Kosterlitz-Thouless transition of vortices and antivortices, here identified by empty and doubly occupied sites. Within this framework, electrons strongly interact with collective plasmon excitations that induce anomalous critical properties on both sides of the transition. In particular, the insulating phase is characterized by a singular power-law behavior in the photoemission spectrum, which can be continuously connected to the fully projected insulating state relevant to strongly correlated low-energy models.
We consider a one-dimensional two-band model of electrons on a lattice with equal nearest-neighbour hopping, an interband splitting Delta and a Hubbard-like repulsion U. The model is defined via the SU(4) generalization of Lieb and Wu's Bethe ansatz solution of the one-dimensional Hubbard model. At T=0 the model has a Mott metal-insulator transition at a critical value U c ( Delta ) for a band filling of exactly one electron per site. U c decreases with Delta , being zero if the excited-electron band is empty, and U c =2.981 when the bands are degenerate. We discuss the ground-state properties, the spectrum of elemental excitations, the specific heat and the magnetic susceptibility, in both the metallic and insulating phases, as a function of the crystal-field splitting for exactly one electron per site. There are four branches of elemental excitations: (i) charge excitations, (ii) crystalline-field excitations and (iii) two branches of spin waves. The Fermi velocity is finite in the metallic phase, diverges as the metal-insulator transition is approached from the metallic side and vanishes for the insulator. Each band contributes to the susceptibility with a term that is inversely proportional to the spin-wave velocity for that band. The low-temperature specific heat is proportional to T and to the sum of the inverses of the velocities of the four branches.
We present a novel route for attaining unconventional superconductivity in a strongly correlated system without doping. In a simple model of a correlated band insulator at half-filling we demonstrate, based on a generalization of the projected wavefunctions method, that superconductivity emerges for a broad range of model parameters when e-e interactions and the bare band-gap are both much larger than the kinetic energy, provided the system has sufficient frustration against the magnetic order. As the interactions are tuned, the superconducting phase appears sandwiched between the correlated band insulator followed by a paramagnetic metal on one side, and a ferrimagnetic metal, antiferromagnetic half-metal, and Mott insulator phases on the other side.
The low--energy excited states of a system of interacting one--dimensional fermions in a conducting state are collective charge and spin density oscillations. The unusual physical properties of such a system (called ``Luttinger liquid'') are characterized by the velocities uρu_ρuρ​ and uσu_σuσ​ of the charge and spin excitations, as well as by a parameter KρK_ρKρ​ that determines the power law behavior of correlation functions. Umklapp scattering occuring at half--filling or other commensurate bandfilling can lead to a transition into an insulating state, characterized in particular by a gap in the charge excitations (the Mott--Hubbard gap). The properties in the vicinity of the transition are shown to depend on both the way the transition is approached (constant bandfilling and varying interaction, or constant interaction and varying bandfilling) and on the ``order'' of the commensurability. In particular, even and odd fractional fillings show quite different behavior. This behavior is illustrated in detail using lattice models like the Hubbard model and its extensions.
Materials with strongly correlated electrons show a multitude of unconventional phenomena, such as superconductivity or magnetism, that cannot be explained in a single-particle picture and necessitate to take many-body effects into account. A route to explain the origin of these phenomena consists in constructing effective models for these materials that are then solved, often using numerical techniques. Paradigmatic models for two different classes of strongly correlated electron systems are investigated in this thesis: The Hubbard model is a paradigmatic model to describe the Mott metal-insulator transition (MIT) and the Kondo lattice model describes the low-energy physics in heavy fermion compounds. Both models are analyzed numerically using different variations of a quantum cluster technique, the variational cluster approximation (VCA). The first part focuses on the MIT, as it is investigated experimentally in quasi-two-dimensional charge-transfer salts. Its nature and associated universality class are still heavily discussed and both experiments and theoretical approaches come to different conclusions. In this thesis, the Mott transition is investigated on an anisotropic two-dimensional Hubbard model at half-filling. By using a control parameter, which induces this anisotropy, strong evidence for Mott quantum criticality is found in weakly coupled Hubbard chains. The results at zero temperature show that the second-order critical end point Tc of the interaction-driven metal-insulator transition can be tuned down to zero at strong anisotropy. Further results for the antiferromagnetic phase suggest a similar picture and motivate adding the anisotropy as a new axis in the phase diagram to account for a low-temperature critical end point of the Mott transition. The second part of this thesis focuses on unconventional phases that emerge in a paradigmatic model for heavy fermion systems, the Kondo lattice model. Using the VCA, the two-dimensional Kondo lattice model is investigated in the paramagnetic phase as well as in phases with broken symmetry. An antiferromagnetic phase at weak coupling and a phase with Kondo-singlet formation at strong coupling are analyzed. Within the antiferromagnetically ordered region, two phases with different Fermi-surface topology, which are separated by a discontinuous transition, are identified. The model is also tested for s-wave superconductivity as found recently using dynamical mean-field theory, but no indications for robust local pairing are seen within VCA. Instead, nodal d-wave superconductivity is found and analyzed in a large range of couplings and electron fillings, and its interplay with antiferromagnetic order at weak coupling is discussed. This motivates further studies on extended models that might allow for a close comparison with experiments on heavy fermion systems. Understanding the formation of unconventional phases in strongly correlated electron systems is not only of fundamental interest, but it is also essential for designing new functional materials. Although the results of approximate cluster techniques have to be handled with care, the new aspects presented in this thesis pave the way for further investigations in this direction.