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arXiv:cond-mat/9807078 · Physical Review Letters

Finite-Size Bosonization of 2-Channel Kondo Model: A Bridge between Numerical Renormalization Group and Conformal Field Theory

Jan von Delft, Gergely Zaránd, Michele Fabrizio

Published Jul 6, 1998• 46 citations
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Abstract

We generalize Emery and Kivelson's (EK) bosonization-refermionization treatment of the 2-channel Kondo model to finite system size and on the EK line analytically construct its exact eigenstates and finite-size spectrum. The latter crosses over to conformal field theory's (CFT) universal non-Fermi-liquid spectrum (and yields the most-relevant operators' dimensions), and further to a Fermi-liquid spectrum in a finite magnetic field. Our approach elucidates the relation between bosonization, scaling techniques, the numerical renormalization group (NRG), and CFT. All CFT Green's functions are recovered with remarkable ease from the model's scattering states.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.81.196

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We generalize Emery and Kivelson's (EK) bosonization-refermionization treatment of the 2-channel Kondo model to finite system size and on the EK line analytically construct its exact eigenstates and finite-size spectrum. The latter crosses over to conformal field theory's (CFT) universal non-Fermi-liquid spectrum (and yields the most-relevant operators' dimensions), and further to a Fermi-liquid spectrum in a finite magnetic field. Our approach elucidates the relation between bosonization, scaling techniques, the numerical renormalization group (NRG), and CFT. All CFT Green's functions are recovered with remarkable ease from the model's scattering states.
We present a conceptually simple, analytical calculation of the finite-size crossover spectrum of the anisotropic two-channel Kondo (2CK) model at its Toulouse point. We use Emery and Kivelson's method, generalized in two ways. First, we construct all boson fields and Klein factors explicitly in terms of the model's original fermion operators and, secondly, we clarify explicitly how the Klein factors needed when refermionizing act on the original Fock space. This enables us to follow the evolution of the 2CK model's free-fermion states to its exact eigenstates for arbitrary magnetic fields and spin-flip coupling strengths. We thus obtain an analytic description of the crossover of the finite-size spectrum to the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point, where we recover the conformal field theory results (implying a direct proof of Affleck and Ludwig's fusion hypothesis). From the finite-size spectrum we extract the operator content of the 2CK fixed point and the dimension of various relevant and irrelevant perturbations. Our method can easily be generalized to include various symmetry-breaking perturbations, and to study the crossover to other fixed points produced by these. Furthermore, it establishes instructive connections between different renormalization group schemes. We also apply our method to the single-channel Kondo model.
Dynamical correlations of various local operators are studied in the spin-half two-channel Kondo (2CK) model in the presence of channel anisotropy or external magnetic field. A conformal field theory--based scaling approach is used to predict the analytic properties of various spectral functions in the vicinity of the two-channel Kondo fixed point. These analytical results compare well with highly accurate density-matrix numerical renormalization-group results. The universal crossover functions interpolating between channel-anisotropy- or magnetic-field-induced Fermi-liquid regimes and the two-channel Kondo, non-Fermi-liquid regimes are determined numerically. The boundaries of the real 2CK scaling regime are found to be rather restricted and to depend both on the type of the perturbation and on the specific operator whose correlation function is studied. In a small magnetic field, a universal resonance is observed in the local fermion's spectral function. The dominant superconducting instability appears in the composite superconducting channel.
The multichannel Kondo model exhibits non-Fermi-liquid behavior in the overscreened case, when the number of channels, k, is greater than twice the size of the impurity spin, s. We show that, for overscreening, exchange anisotropy is irrelevant at the low-temperature fixed point for s=1/2 or s=k/2-1/2, but relevant for all other values of s. However, an external field or channel asymmetry is relevant, producing crossover to Fermi-liquid fixed points with different phase shifts for each spin in the first case and for each channel in the second. These results are elucidated by explicit comparison of analytic finite-size spectra derived from conformal field theory with those obtained from numerical renormalization-group calculations. The relevance of the results (for k=2 and s=1/2) to the quadrupolar Kondo Hamiltonian (which has been proposed as a model for many uranium-based heavy-fermion materials) will be briefly discussed. Also, a larger, a/Isymplectic symmetry Sp(2k) is shown to be present in the k-channel Kondo model.
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.
Spin-valley Anderson impurities (SVAIM) with (anti-)Hund's splitting provide a natural explanation to the origin of pairing potential and pseudogap in the magic-angle graphene. In this work, we derive and analytically solve the low-energy Kondo theories for SVAIM at half-filling, with especial focus on the two anti-Hund's regimes: the impurity is either dominated by a valley doublet, or a trivial singlet. In the doublet regime, we reveal that a novel pair Kondo scattering λxλ_xλx​ is required to flip the valley doublet, which involves a quartic operator of bath electrons. Our renormalization group (RG) calculation based on the Coulomb gas analog shows λxλ_xλx​ drives a phase transition of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type. One side of the transition is an anisotropic doublet phase, characterized by non-universal phase shifts of bath electrons and non-analytic impurity susceptibilities, while the other is a Fermi liquid formed by pair-Kondo resonance. The finite-size many-body spectrum, thermodynamic quantities, and correlation functions for both phases are analytically solved. Remarkably, the solution in the pair-Kondo Fermi liquid is achieved via the constructive approach of bosonization-refermionization along a solvable fixed line, where the many-body interaction λxλ_xλx​ is mapped into a pseudo-fermion bilinear in a rigorous manner. Finally, we also apply the RG analysis to the singlet regime, and identify a second-order phase transition between the Kondo Fermi liquid and a local singlet phase.
Symmetry-breaking perturbations destabilize the critical points of the two-channel and two-impurity Kondo models, thereby leading to a crossover from non-Fermi liquid behavior to standard Fermi liquid physics. Here we use an analogy between this crossover and one occurring in the boundary Ising model to calculate the full crossover Green function analytically. In remarkable agreement with our numerical renormalization group calculations, the single exact function applies for an arbitrary mixture of the relevant perturbations in each model. This rich behavior resulting from finite channel asymmetry, interlead charge transfer, and/or magnetic field should be observable in quantum dot or tunneling experiments.