Nature of the quantum critical point as disclosed by extraordinary behavior of magnetotransport and the Lorentz number in the heavy-fermion metal YbRh2Si2

Abstract

Physicists are engaged in vigorous debate on the nature of the quantum critical points (QCP) governing the low-temperature properties of heavy-fermion (HF) metals. Recent experimental observations of the much-studied compound YbRh2Si2 in the regime of vanishing temperature incisively probe the nature of its magnetic-field-tuned QCP. The jumps revealed both in the residual resistivity rho_0 and the Hall resistivity R_H, along with violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law, provide vital clues to the origin of such non-Fermi-liquid behavior. The empirical facts point unambiguously to association of the observed QCP with a fermion-condensation phase transition. Based on this insight, the resistivities rho_0 and R_H are predicted to show jumps at the crossing of the QCP produced by application of a magnetic field, with attendant violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law. It is further demonstrated that experimentally identifiable multiple energy scales are related to the scaling behavior of the effective mass of the quasiparticles responsible for the low-temperature properties of such HF metals.

arXiv comment7 pages, 4 figures, revised and accepted by JETP Lett

References in corpus (31)

• Fermi-liquid instabilities at magnetic quantum phase transitions
• Quantum Criticality in Heavy Fermion Metals
• The break up of heavy electrons at a quantum critical point
• Quantum criticality
• How do Fermi liquids get heavy and die?
• Quantum magnetism and criticality
• Hall-effect evolution across a heavy-fermion quantum critical point
• Magnetic-Field Induced Quantum Critical Point in YbRh${}_2$Si${}_2$
• Field-Induced Quantum Critical Point in CeCoIn5
• Quantum phase transitions from topology in momentum space
• Visualizing heavy fermions emerging in a quantum critical Kondo lattice
• Multiple energy scales at a quantum critical point
• Fermi-surface collapse and dynamical scaling near a quantum critical point
• Scaling Behavior of Heavy Fermion Metals
• Thermal and Electrical Transport across a Magnetic Quantum Critical Point
• Anomalous Behavior of Thermodynamic Properties of Strongly Correlated Fermi Systems
• What is the fate of the heavy electron at a quantum critical point?
• Ac Susceptibility and Static Magnetization Measurements of CeRu${}_2$Si${}_2$ at Small Magnetic Fields and Ultra Low Temperatures
• Hall Effect in Nested Antiferromagnets Near the Quantum Critical Point
• Challenging Magnetic Field Dependence of the Residual Resistivity of the Heavy-Fermion Metal CeCoIn5
• Universal Behavior of Heavy-Fermion Metals Near a Quantum Critical Point
• Andreev reflection and order parameter symmetry in heavy-fermion superconductors: the case of CeCoIn${}_5$
• Asymmetric tunneling, Andreev reflection and dynamic conductance spectra in strongly correlated metals
• Dissymmetrical tunnelling in heavy fermion metals
• Two Scenarios of the Quantum Critical Point
• Quasiparticles of strongly correlated Fermi liquids at high temperatures and in high magnetic fields
• Damping effects and the metal-insulator transition in the two-dimensional electron gas
• Energy scales and magnetoresistance at a quantum critical point
• Discontinuous Hall coefficient at the quantum critical point in YbRh2Si2
• Hall coefficient in heavy fermion metals
• Flattening of Single-Particle Spectra in Strongly Correlated Electron Systems and the Violation of the Wiedemann-Franz Law

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Quasi-classical physics and T-linear resistivity in both strongly correlated and ordinary metals
• General properties of phase diagrams of heavy-fermion metals
• Flat Bands and Enigma of Metamagnetic Quantum Critical Regime in Sr3Ru2O7
• Fermion condensate generates a new state of matter by making flat bands
• Scaling behavior of the thermopower of the archetypical heavy-fermion metal $\mathrm{YbR}{\mathrm{h}}_2\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{i}}_2$