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arXiv:cond-mat/9609076 · Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Solution of the effective Hamiltonian of impurity hopping between two sites in a metal

Jinwu Ye

Published Jul 15, 1997• 8 citations
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Abstract

We analyze in detail all the possible fixed points of the effective Hamiltonian of a nonmagnetic impurity hopping between two sites in a metal obtained by Moustakas and Fisher (MF). We find a line of non-Fermi liquid fixed points which continuously interpolates between the two-channel Kondo fixed point (2CK) and the one-channel, two-impurity Kondo (2IK) fixed point. There is one relevant direction with scaling dimension $\frac{1}{2}$ and one leading irrelevant operator with dimension $\frac{3}{2}$. There is also one marginal operator in the spin sector moving along this line. The marginal operator, combined with the leading irrelevant operator, will generate the relevant operator. For the general position on this line, the leading low-temperature exponents of the specific heat, the hopping susceptibility and the electron conductivity ${C}_{\mathrm{imp}},{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{imp}}^{h},\ensuremath{\sigma}(T)$ are the same as those of the 2CK, but the finite-size spectrum depends on the position on the line. No universal ratios can be formed from the amplitudes of the three quantities except at the 2CK point on this line where the universal ratios can be formed. At the 2IK point on this line, $\ensuremath{\sigma}(T)\ensuremath{\sim}2{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{u}{(1+aT}^{3/2})$, no universal ratio can be formed either. The additional non-Fermi-liquid fixed point found by MF has the same symmetry as the 2IK, it has two relevant directions with scaling dimension $\frac{1}{2}$, and is therefore also unstable. The leading low-temperature behaviors are ${C}_{\mathrm{imp}}\ensuremath{\sim}T,{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{imp}}^{h}\ensuremath{\sim}\mathrm{ln}T,\ensuremath{\sigma}(T)\ensuremath{\sim}2{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{u}{(1+aT}^{3/2})$; no universal ratios can be formed. The system is shown to flow to a line of Fermi-liquid fixed points which continuously interpolates between the noninteracting fixed point and the two-channel spin-flavor Kondo fixed point discussed by the author previously. The effect of particle-hole symmetry breaking is discussed. The effective Hamiltonian in the external magnetic field is analyzed. The scaling functions for the physical measurable quantities are derived in the different regimes; their predictions for the experiments are given. Finally the implications are given for a nonmagnetic impurity hopping around three sites with triangular symmetry discussed by MF.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.56.1316

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We analyze in detail all the possible fixed points of the effective Hamiltonian of a nonmagnetic impurity hopping between two sites in a metal obtained by Moustakas and Fisher (MF). We find a line of non-Fermi liquid fixed points which continuously interpolates between the two-channel Kondo fixed point (2CK) and the one-channel, two-impurity Kondo (2IK) fixed point. There is one relevant direction with scaling dimension 12\frac{1}{2}21​ and one leading irrelevant operator with dimension 32\frac{3}{2}23​. There is also one marginal operator in the spin sector moving along this line. The marginal operator, combined with the leading irrelevant operator, will generate the relevant operator. For the general position on this line, the leading low-temperature exponents of the specific heat, the hopping susceptibility and the electron conductivity Cimp,\ensuremathχimph,\ensuremathσ(T){C}_{\mathrm{imp}},{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{imp}}^{h},\ensuremath{\sigma}(T)Cimp​,\ensuremathχimph​,\ensuremathσ(T) are the same as those of the 2CK, but the finite-size spectrum depends on the position on the line. No universal ratios can be formed from the amplitudes of the three quantities except at the 2CK point on this line where the universal ratios can be formed. At the 2IK point on this line, \ensuremathσ(T)\ensuremath∼2\ensuremathσu(1+aT3/2)\ensuremath{\sigma}(T)\ensuremath{\sim}2{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{u}{(1+aT}^{3/2})\ensuremathσ(T)\ensuremath∼2\ensuremathσu​(1+aT3/2), no universal ratio can be formed either. The additional non-Fermi-liquid fixed point found by MF has the same symmetry as the 2IK, it has two relevant directions with scaling dimension 12\frac{1}{2}21​, and is therefore also unstable. The leading low-temperature behaviors are Cimp\ensuremath∼T,\ensuremathχimph\ensuremath∼lnT,\ensuremathσ(T)\ensuremath∼2\ensuremathσu(1+aT3/2){C}_{\mathrm{imp}}\ensuremath{\sim}T,{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{imp}}^{h}\ensuremath{\sim}\mathrm{ln}T,\ensuremath{\sigma}(T)\ensuremath{\sim}2{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{u}{(1+aT}^{3/2})Cimp​\ensuremath∼T,\ensuremathχimph​\ensuremath∼lnT,\ensuremathσ(T)\ensuremath∼2\ensuremathσu​(1+aT3/2); no universal ratios can be formed. The system is shown to flow to a line of Fermi-liquid fixed points which continuously interpolates between the noninteracting fixed point and the two-channel spin-flavor Kondo fixed point discussed by the author previously. The effect of particle-hole symmetry breaking is discussed. The effective Hamiltonian in the external magnetic field is analyzed. The scaling functions for the physical measurable quantities are derived in the different regimes; their predictions for the experiments are given. Finally the implications are given for a nonmagnetic impurity hopping around three sites with triangular symmetry discussed by MF.
Tunneling impurities in metals have been known for some time to have the potential for exhibiting Kondo-like physics. However, previous models based on an impurity hopping between two equivalent positions have run into trouble due to the existence of relevant operators that drive the system away from the non-Fermi-liquid Kondo fixed point. In the case of an impurity hopping among positions with higher symmetry, such as triangular symmetry, it is shown here that the non-Fermi-liquid behavior at low temperatures can be generic. Using various bosonization techniques, the fixed point is shown to be stable. However, unlike the conventional two-channel Kondo (2CK) model, it has four leading irrelevant operators, implying that while the form of the singular temperature dependence of physical quantities is similar to the 2CK model, there will not be simple universal amplitude ratios. The phase diagram of this system is analyzed and a critical manifold is found to separate the non-Fermi-liquid from a conventional Fermi liquid fixed point. Generalization to higher symmetries, such as cubic, and the possibility of physical realizations with dynamic Jahn-Teller impurities are discussed.
We solve the two-impurity, two-channel Kondo model using a combination of conformal invariance and bosonization techniques. In the odd-even symmetric case, the RKKY interaction is exactly marginal, resulting in a line of non-Fermi-liquid fixed points. Explicit formulas are given for the critical exponents and for the finite-size spectrum, which depend continuously on a single parameter. The marginal line spans a range of values of the RKKY coupling III which goes from the infinitely strong ferromagnetic point $I\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}+\ensuremath{\infty}$ to a finite antiferromagnetic critical value Imin<0{I}_{\mathrm{min}}<0Imin​<0 beyond which a Fermi liquid is recovered. When the odd-even symmetry is broken, the marginal line is unstable for ferromagnetic III, while for antiferromagnetic III it extends into a manifold of fixed points.
It has been claimed that an impurity hopping between two sites in a metal can lead to non-Fermi-liquid behavior if the bias between the two sites is tuned to zero. Here it is shown that several extra tunneling processes are allowed; those involving bare impurity tunneling as well as two-electron-assisted tunneling play important roles. These terms generally drive the system away from the intermediate-coupling non-Fermi-liquid fixed point, which has the character of the two-channel Kondo problem. In order to find the non-Fermi-liquid behavior a combination of these terms must be small over a range of energy scales. The prospects for obtaining these conditions are studied by analyzing both the weak-coupling and the intermediate-coupling behavior, together with the connecting crossover region. Unfortunately, the conclusions are rather pessimistic. The phase diagram and the important crossover are analyzed via bosonization and refermionization and some of the results compared to those obtained from conformal field theory. Finally, an additional non-Fermi-liquid fixed point is found, a multicritical point with two relevant directions even in the unbiased case. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
An asymptotically exact solution is presented for the two-impurity Kondo model for a finite region of the parameter space surrounding the critical point. This region is located in the most interesting intermediate regime where the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction is comparable to the Kondo temperature. After several exact simplifications involving reduction to one dimension and Abelian bosonization, the critical point is explicitly identified, making clear its physical origin. By using controlled low-energy projection, an effective Hamiltonian is derived for the finite region in the phase diagram around the critical point. The completeness of the effective Hamiltonian is rigorously proved from general symmetry considerations. The effective Hamiltonian is solved exactly not only at the critical point but also for the surrounding Fermi-liquid phase. Analytic crossover functions from the critical to Fermi-liquid behavior are derived for the specific heat and staggered susceptibility. It is shown that applying a uniform magnetic field has negligible effect on the physical behavior inside our solution region. A detailed comparison is made with the numerical renormalization-group and conformal-field-theory results. The excellent agreement is exploited to argue for the universality of the critical point, which in turn implies universal behavior everywhere inside our solution region.
We study an exchange interaction in which conduction electrons with pseudospin Sc{\mathrm{S}}_{\mathrm{c}}Sc​=3/2 interact with the impurity spin SI{\mathrm{S}}_{\mathrm{I}}SI​=1/2. Due to the overscreening of the impurity spin by higher conduction electron spin, a nontrivial intermediate-coupling-strength fixed point is realized. Using the numerical renormalization group (NRG), we show that the low-energy spectra are described by a non-Fermi-liquid excitation spectrum. A conformal field theory analysis is compared with NRG results and excellent agreement is obtained. Using the double-fusion rule to generate the operator spectrum with the conformal theory, we find that the specific heat coefficient and magnetic susceptibility will diverge as ${\mathrm{T}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2\mathrm{/}3}$, that the scaling dimension of an applied magnetic field is 5/6, and that exchange anisotropy is always relevant. We discuss the possible relevance of our work to two-level-system Kondo materials and dilute cerium alloys, and we point out a paradox in understanding the Bethe-ansatz solutions to the multichannel Kondo model.
We consider a magnetic S = 1/2 impurity in the antiferromagnetic spin chain as a function of two coupling parameters: the symmetric coupling of the impurity to two sites in the chain J1 and the coupling between the two sites J2. By using field theory arguments and numerical calculations we can identify all possible fixed points and classify the renormalization flow between them, which leads to a nontrivial phase diagram. Depending on the detailed choice of the two (frustrating) coupling strengths, the stable phases correspond either to a decoupled spin with Curie law behavior or to a non-Fermi-liquid fixed point with a logarithmically diverging impurity susceptibility as in the two-channel Kondo effect. Our results resolve a controversy about the renormalization flow.