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Non-Landau quantum phase transitions and nearly-marginal non-Fermi liquid

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

Yichen Xu
Hao Geng
Xiao-Chuan Wu
Chao-Ming Jian
Cenke Xu

Abstract

Non-Fermi liquid and unconventional quantum critical points (QCP) with strong fractionalization are two exceptional phenomena beyond the classic condensed matter doctrines, both of which could occur in strongly interacting quantum many-body systems. This work demonstrates that using a controlled method one can construct a non-Fermi liquid within a considerable energy window based on the unique physics of unconventional QCPs. We will focus on the 'nearly-marginal non-Fermi liquid', defined as a state whose fermion self-energy scales as Σf(iω) ∼ i sgn(ω)|ω| α with α close to 1 in a considerable energy window. The nearly-marginal non-fermi liquid is obtained by coupling an electron fermi surface to unconventional QCPs that are beyond the Landau's paradigm. This mechanism relies on the observation that the anomalous dimension η of the order parameter of these unconventional QCPs can be close to 1, which is significantly larger than conventional Landau phase transitions, for example the Wilson-Fisher fixed points. The fact that η ∼ 1 justifies a perturbative renormalization group calculation proposed earlier. Various candidate QCPs that meet this desired condition are proposed. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA Medialab srl.

Date Published

Journal

Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment

Volume

2020

Issue

7

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85088027072&doi=10.1088%2f1742-5468%2fab99a0&partnerID=40&md5=95fc0bc74314b3f4eb5b88330537334c

DOI

10.1088/1742-5468/ab99a0

Group (Lab)

Chao-Ming Jian Group

Funding Source

1920434

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