Fermi Surface Topology in the Case of Spontaneously Broken Rotational Symmetry

The relation between the broken rotational symmetry of a system and the topology of its Fermi surface is studied for the two-dimensional system with the quasiparticle interaction f(p, p') having a sharp peak at |p ? p'| = q₀. It is shown that, in the case of attraction and q₀ = 2p_F the first instability manifesting itself with the growth of the interaction strength is the Pomeranchuk instability. This instability appearing in the L = 2 channel gives rise to a second order phase transition to a nematic phase. The Monte Carlo calculations demonstrate that this transition is followed by a sequence of the first and second order phase transitions corresponding to the changes in the symmetry and topology of the Fermi surface. In the case of repulsion and small values of q₀, the first transition is a topological transition to a state with the spontaneously broken rotational symmetry, namely, corresponding to the nucleation of L ? π(p_F/q₀ ? 1) small hole pockets at the distance p_F ? q₀ from the center and the deformation of the outer Fermi surface with the characteristic multipole number equal to L. At q₀ → 0, when the model under study transforms to the two-dimensional Nozières model, the multipole number characterizing the spontaneous deformation is L → ∞, whereas the infinitely folded Fermi curve acquires the Hausdorff dimension D = 2 which corresponds to the state with the fermion condensate.     

Surface states of charge carriers in epitaxial films of the topological insulator Bi2Te3

The galvanomagnetic properties of p-type bismuth telluride heteroepitaxial films grown by the hot wall epitaxy method on oriented muscovite mica substrates have been investigated. Quantum oscillations of the magnetoresistance associated with surface electronic states in three-dimensional topological insulators have been studied in strong magnetic fields ranging from 6 to 14 T at low temperatures. The cyclotron effective mass, charge carrier mobility, and parameters of the Fermi surface have been determined based on the results of analyzing the magnetoresistance oscillations. The dependences of the cross-sectional area of the Fermi surface S(k _F), the wave vector k _F, and the surface concentration of charge carriers n _s on the frequency of magnetoresistance oscillations in p-type Bi₂Te₃ heteroepitaxial films have been obtained. The experimentally observed shift of the Landau level index is consistent with the value of the Berry phase, which is characteristic of topological surface states of Dirac fermions in the films. The properties of topological surface states of charge carriers in p-type Bi₂Te₃ films obtained by analyzing the magnetoresistance oscillations significantly expand fields of practical application and stimulate the investigation of transport properties of chalcogenide films.     

Multiphonon contribution to the structure factor of metals

The structure factor of Na is calculated including two-phonon terms and the Debye-Waller factor. The result is compared with the one-phonon approximation usually employed to evaluate the electronic transport coefficients. This multiphonon contribution can amount to 13 per cent at the melting point and 10 per cent at room temperature in the transport sensitive region of wave vector 1.5 k_F < q < 2 k_F, where k_F is the Fermi wave vector. We conclude that calculations of electronic transport coefficients of metals intended to attain a precision better than 10 per cent above the Debye temperature must take into account the contributions of the Debye-Waller factor and the two phonon terms.     

Groundstate threshold in disordered anisotropic +/−J Ising models

In disordered anisotropic square +/− J Ising models SQ(p, q) at groundstates we investigate the pairs (p_c, q_c) of critical concentrations of antiferromagnetic bonds with concentrations p,q, respectively in orthogonal coordinate directions. We are led to p_c(q) ≈ π(q) with π(q) from the so-called adjoined problem. This approach is well supported by simulations for different values of q on the basis of minimal matchings of frustrated plaquettes. In particular, p_c(0) ≈ 0.21 from simulations and π(0) = 0.2113248 …, with the conjecture that p_c(0) = π(0). The concept of the adjoined problem is extended to d-dimensional (hyper-) cubic lattices. We hereby obtain for p_c,d especially in the sotropic case: p_c,3 ≈ 0.154, p_c,4 ≈ 0.170, p_c,5 ≈ 0.178, p_c,6 ≈ 0.182. Moreover, in analogy to SQ(p,q) we used the approach also for honeycomb Ising models HC(p,q,r) with no antiferromagnetic bonds in the third plaquette direction (r = 0).     

Near EF electronic structure of heavily boron-doped superconducting diamond

We have performed soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SXARPES) of a heavily boron-doped superconducting diamond film (T_c=7.2 K) in order to study the electronic structure near the Fermi level (E_F). Careful determination of measured momentum space that across Γ point in the Brillouin zone (BZ) and increase of an energy resolution provide further spectroscopic evidence that E_F is located at the highly dispersive diamond-like bands, indicating that holes at the top of the diamond-like valence band play an essential role for the conducting properties of the heavily boron-doped superconducting diamond for this boron-doping region (effective carrier concentration of 1.6%). The SXARPES intensities at E_F were also mapped out over BZ to obtain experimental Fermi surface sheets and compared with calculations.     

Damping of zero sound in Luttinger liquids

We calculate the damping γ_q of collective density oscillations (zero sound) in a one-dimensional Fermi gas with dimensionless forward scattering interaction F and quadratic energy dispersion k² / 2 m at zero temperature. Using standard many-body perturbation theory, we obtain γ_q from the expansion of the inverse irreducible polarization to first order in the effective screened (RPA) interaction. For wave-vectors | q| /k_F ≪F (where k_F = m v_F is the Fermi wave-vector) we find to leading order γ_q ∝| q |³ /(v_F m²). On the other hand, for F ≪| q| /k_F most of the spectral weight is carried by the particle-hole continuum, which is distributed over a frequency interval of the order of q²/m. We also show that zero sound damping leads to a finite maximum proportional to |k - k_F | ^{-2 + 2 η} of the charge peak in the single-particle spectral function, where η is the anomalous dimension. Our prediction agrees with photoemission data for the blue bronze K_0.3MoO₃. We comment on other recent calculations of γ_q.     

Effect of random doping on the electronic spectrum in trans-polyacetylene

Random dopants in trans (CH)_x introduce a broad band of gap states which merges with the conduction and valence band edges at a doping concentration n_c of a few percent. This overlap of band and gap states leads to an onset of Pauli susceptibility, since the density of states at the Fermi energy E_F is nonzero for n>n_c. However, E_F lies in a region of localized states until n is considerably greater than n_c and the system remains a semiconductor.     

Investigation of the Li (e,e′p) reaction at 1200 MeV

The reaction ⁶Li (e, e′p)⁵He has been investigated with a resolution good enough to distinguish the effects of the s- and p-shells of the ⁶Li nucleus. The reaction cross section has been measured as a function of the missing energy from −15 to +30 MeV. The proton angular distribution has been measured at missing energies of 4 and 20 MeV. The comparison of the data with calculations within the framework of the plane-wave impulse approximation gives the harmonic oscillator parameters q_p = 50 ± 5 MeV/c,q_s = 108 ± 9 MeV/c.     

Common features in high Tc cuprates and diborides

The normal state of magnesium diboride, the simplest metallic system showing the macroscopic quantum coherence at high temperature (high T_c superconductivity––HTcS) shows some features that are common with the cuprates, shedding light on the pairing mechanism for T_c amplification in HTcS: (1) two or more electronic components associated with multiple Fermi surface portions; (2) crossing of electronic topological transitions (ETT) where the Fermi surface changes its topology and (3) phonon softening in extended Kohn anomalies (EKA) over a large wave-vector range.     

Fermi surface studies in the low- and high-T c phase of the organic superconductor β-(BEDT-TTF)2I3

We report de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) measurements of the high-T _c modification (T _c = 7 - 8 K) and Shubnikov-de Haas results of the low-T _c modification (Tc ≈ 1:4 K) of the organic superconductor β-(BEDT-TTF)₂I₃. In the high-T _c phase we find a single closed two-dimensional orbit with a dHvA frequency F ₀ = (3815±10) T and a 1/cosθ dependence as expected for a quasi two-dimensional system (where θ is the angle between the magnetic field and the direction normal to the conducting planes). The effective cyclotron mass is m _c = (4:2±0:2)m _e. The dHvA signal shows a beating pattern caused by the three-dimensional warping of the Fermi cylinder. The inter-plane transfer integral estimated from the maximum beating frequency ΔF is t _⊥/εF ≈ 1/175. At the angles where the beating disappears, i.e., ΔF ≈ 0, the oscillations have a harmonic content which is much larger than expected from the Lifshitz-Kosevich formula. In the low-T _c phase weak SdH oscillations with a frequency of F _SdH ≈ 110 T and an effective cyclotron mass m _c ≈ 1:0m _e is found. These results suggest a possible reconstruction of the Fermi surface in the low-T _c phase.     

Unconventional superconductivity originating from disconnected Fermi surfaces in correlated superconductors : A case study for iron pnictides

We first generally summarize the effect of disconnected Fermi surfaces in spin fluctuation mediated superconductivity. We argue that disconnected Fermi surfaces are favorable in that the sign of the superconducting gap can be changed without nodal lines intersecting the Fermi surface. Then, as an example of actual materials that have disconnected Fermi surfaces, we focus on the iron-based high T_c superconductors. We construct a model that contains all of the five Fe d bands, and apply random-phase approximation. We find that multiple spin fluctuation modes develop due to the nesting between disconnected Fermi surfaces, and the superconductivity originating from the cooperation or competition between these multiple spin fluctuation modes depends on the lattice structure. In particular, the appearance of the Fermi surface around (π, π) in the unfolded Brillouin zone is sensitive to the pnictogen height h_Pn measured from the Fe plane, and the height can act as a switch between high T_c nodeless and low T_c nodal pairings. In the high T_c case, the superconducting gap is fully open on all of the five Fermi surfaces, but changes sign across the nesting vectors that bridge the disconnected Fermi surfaces.     

3nj coefficients of u q(2) and multiple basic hypergeometric series

Triple-sum formulas for 9j coefficients and multiple-sum expressions [with five or four separate sums of the _p+1 F _p(1) or _p+1 φ _p type, p=2, 3, 4] for the 12j coefficients of both kinds (with or without braiding) of the SU(2) group and the quantum algebra u _q(2) are derived, eliminating sums over the j type parameters [q generalizations of the very well poised (Dougall’s type) hypergeometric ₄ F ₃(?1), ₅ F ₄(1), and ₆ F ₅(?1) series] from their expansions in terms of q-6j coefficients. The rearrangements of the derived formulas for generic and stretched q-9j coefficients (related to the q versions of some Kampé de Fériet series) are discussed, as well as the different versions of stretched and doubly stretched q-12j coefficients.     

Dynamics of plume and crater formation after action of femtosecond laser pulse

Using microinterferometric method, a transition in laser plume from the regime with spallation to the regime without spallation is experimentally studied for the first time. The transition occurs when the fluence F_inc of incident radiation exceeds a threshold of “evaporation” (F_inc)_ev. It has been shown previously that the spallation layer is formed at fluence above the ablation threshold (F_inc)_abl. Thus the spallation exists within the limits (F_inc)_abl<F_inc<(F_inc)_ev. A laser beam has a maximum fluence (F_inc)_c on the axis of the beam. The threshold F_ev separates two cases with qualitatively different morphology: (1) with unbroken shell covering the crater entirely if F_abl<F_c<F_ev, and (2) with the shell having an aperture in the center (like the volcano muzzle) if F_c>F_ev.     

Electronic structure of new multiple band Pt-pnictide superconductors APt3P

We report LDA calculated band structure, densities of states and Fermi surfaces for recently discovered Pt-pnictide superconductors APt₃P (A = Ca, Sr, La), confirming their multiple band nature. Electronic structure is essentially three dimensional, in contrast to Fe pnictides and chalcogenides. LDA calculated Sommerfeld coefficient agrees rather well with experimental data, leaving little space for very strong coupling super-conductivity, suggested by experimental data on specific heat of SrPt₃P. Elementary estimates show, that the values of critical temperature can be explained by rather weak or moderately strong coupling, while the decrease in superconducting transition temperature T _c from Sr to La compound can be explained by corresponding decrease in total density of states at the Fermi level N(E _F). The shape of the density of states near the Fermi level suggests that in SrPt₃P electron doping (such as replacement Sr by La) decreases N(E _F) and T _c , while hole doping (e.g., partial replacement of Sr with K, Rb or Cs, if possible) would increase N(E _F) and possibly T _c .     

Microscopic theory of a strongly correlated two-dimensional electron gas

The rearrangement of the Fermi surface in a diluted two-dimensional electron gas beyond the topological quantum critical point has been examined within an approach based on the Landau theory of Fermi liquid and a nonperturbative functional method. The possibility of a transition of the first order in the coupling constant at zero temperature between the states with a three-sheet Fermi surface and a transition of the first order in temperature between these states at a fixed coupling constant has been shown. It has also been shown that a topological crossover, which is associated with the joining of two sheets of the Fermi surface and is characterized by the maxima of the density of states N(T) and ratio C(T)/T of the specific heat to the temperature, occurs at a very low temperature T _⋄ determined by the structure of a state with the three-sheet Fermi surface. A momentum region where the distribution n(p, T) depends slightly on the temperature, which is manifested in the maximum of the specific heat C(T) near T _*, appears through a crossover at temperatures T ∼ T _* > T _⋄. It has been shown that the flattening of the single-particle spectrum of the strongly correlated two-dimensional electron gas results in the crossover from the Fermi liquid behavior to a non-Fermi liquid one with the density of states N(T) ∝ T ^−α with the exponent α }~ 2/3.     

Superconductivity and non-metallicity induced by doping the topological insulators Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3

We show that by Ca doping the Bi₂Se₃ topological insulator, the Fermi level can be fine tuned to fall inside the band gap and therefore suppresses the bulk conductivity. Non-metallic Bi₂Se₃ crystals are obtained. On the other hand, the Bi₂Se₃ topological insulator can also be induced to become a bulk superconductor, with T_c∼3.8 K, by copper intercalation in the van der Waals gaps between the Bi₂Se₃ layers. Likewise, an as-grown crystal of metallic Bi₂Te₃ can be turned into a non-metallic crystal by slight variation in the Te content. The Bi₂Te₃ topological insulator shows small amounts of superconductivity with T_c∼5.5 K when reacted with Pd to form materials of the type Pd_zBi₂Te₃.     

Anderson transition in a magnetic field — Weak field conductivity and hall effect —

The influence of a weak magnetic field on the Anderson transition is investigated by extending Götze's recent zero field theory. Whereas the diagonal components of the conductivity tensor are not essentially effected and the Hall conductivity tends to zero linearly when the Fermi energyε _F approaches the mobility edgeε _c from above, the Hall coefficient goes to zero discontinuously whenε _F=ε _c at zero temperature. At finite temperatures, however, no such discontinuity appears.     

On the asymptotic behaviour of the mass operator near the Fermi energy

By taking due account of momentum conservation, it is shown that, when ω is near the Fermi energy ω_F, the imaginary part of the mass operator $\text{M(}\text{k}\text{, ω)}$ for an infinite Fermi system behaves like (ω ? ω_F)^p(k) where the exponent p(k) ? 2 depends on the interval in which $\text{|}\text{k}\text{|}$ is lying. In particular, the commonly asserted quadratic behaviour (ω ? ω_F² is shown to be true only for $\text{|}\text{k}\text{| ? 3k}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>F</mtext>}}$. It is explicity assumed that the Fermi system admits a perturbative type treatment.     

Magnetic field dependence of the Peierls instability in one-dimensional conductors

We show that an applied magnetic field will suppress the Peierls instability in one-dimensional conductors. The effect is big enough to be observable. In sufficiently strong fields the transition between the metallic and insulating state is due to the condensation of a phonon with wave vectorq≠2p _F, but close to 2p _F. The role of spinorbit interactions is also discussed.     

Theory of high-T c superconductivity based on the fermion-condensation quantum phase transition

A theory of high-temperature superconductivity based on the combination of the fermion-condensation quantum phase transition and the conventional theory of superconductivity is presented. This theory describes maximum values of the superconducting gap, which can be as big as Δ₁～0.1ε _F , with ε _F being the Fermi level. We show that the critical temperature 2T _c ?Δ₁. If the pseudogap exists above T _c , then 2T*?Δ₁ and T* is the temperature at which the pseudogap vanishes. A discontinuity in the specific heat at T _c is calculated. The transition from conventional superconductors to high-T _c ones as a function of the doping level is investigated. The single-particle excitations and their lineshape are also considered