Fermi-liquid instabilities at magnetic quantum phase transitions

Hilbert v. Löhneysen, Achim Rosch, Matthias Vojta, and Peter Wölfle
Rev. Mod. Phys. 79, 1015 – Published 17 August 2007

Abstract

This review discusses instabilities of the Fermi-liquid state of conduction electrons in metals with particular emphasis on magnetic quantum critical points. Both existing theoretical concepts and experimental data on selected materials are presented; with the aim of assessing the validity of presently available theory. After briefly recalling the fundamentals of Fermi-liquid theory, the local Fermi-liquid state in quantum impurity models and their lattice versions is described. Next, the scaling concepts applicable to quantum phase transitions are presented. The Hertz-Millis-Moriya theory of quantum phase transitions is described in detail. The breakdown of the latter is analyzed in several examples. In the final part, experimental data on heavy-fermion materials and transition-metal alloys are reviewed and confronted with existing theory.

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    DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.79.1015

    ©2007 American Physical Society

    Authors & Affiliations

    Hilbert v. Löhneysen

    • Physikalisches Institut, Universität Karlsruhe, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut für Festkörperphysik, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

    Achim Rosch and Matthias Vojta

    • Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, D-50923 Köln, Germany

    Peter Wölfle

    • Institut für Theorie der Kondensierten Materie, Universität Karlsruhe, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany

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    Issue

    Vol. 79, Iss. 3 — July - September 2007

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