Slave-boson phase diagram of the two-dimensional extended Hubbard model: Influence of electron-phonon coupling

We present a detailed study of the extended Hubbard-Peierls model on a square lattice using the slave-boson method proposed by Kotliar and Ruckenstein. The emphasis is on the investigation of the ground state phase diagram. To compare the relative stability of several homogenous phases, the effective bosonized action was evaluated by means of a two-sublattice saddlepoint approximation which allows for the symmetry broken states compatible with the underlying bipartite lattice structure. Paying particular attention to the interplay of electron-electron and electron-phonon interaction, we take into account various types of magnetic ordered phases, i.e. para-, ferro-, ferri-, and antiferromagnetic states, as well as charge ordered phases, e.g. a static (, ) Peierls distorted state. Furthermore the approach has been applied to the following special cases: the Hubbard model, the extended Hubbard model, and the Hubbard-Peierls model. A careful numerical solution of the corresponding self-consistency equations enables us to map out the ground-state phase diagrams of the various models at arbitrary band filling over the whole range of interaction strength. In the phase diagram of the Hubbard model we found a large region with ferrimagnetic order away from half-filling. The phase diagram of the halffilled band extended Hubbard model shows a first-order transition from a spin-density-wave to a charge-density-wave state which is displaced from the mean-field lineU=4V towards largerV. At large negativeU andV we obtain a domain with charge separation. The phase compares favorably with earlier quantum Monte-Carlo results. Including the local electron-phonon coupling the charge-density-wave region is considerably enlarged. Away from half-filling the phase diagram becomes more complex: besides the pure magnetic phases we obtain ferri- and paramagnetic states which show additional charge-density order. Aspects of phase separation are discussed. Finally we investigate the variation of the different gap and order parameters along characteristic lines in the parameter space and determine the renormalized quasiparticle bands.     

Similarity renormalization of the electron-phonon coupling

We study the problem of the phonon-induced electron-electron interaction in a solid. Starting with a Hamiltonian that contains an electron-phonon interaction, we perform a similarity renormalization transformation to calculate an effective Hamiltonian. Using this transformation singularities due to degeneracies are avoided explicitly. The effective interactions are calculated to second order in the electronphonon coupling. It is shown that the effective interaction between two electrons forming a Cooper pair is attractive in the whole parameter space. For a simple Einstein model we calculate the renormalization of the electronic energies and the critical temperature of superconductivity.     

The role of electron-phonon coupling in femtosecond laser damage of metals

Femtosecond laser pulses were applied to study the energy deposition depth and transfer to the lattice for Au, Ni, and Mo films of varying thickness. The onset of melting, defined here as damage threshold, was detected by measuring changes in the scattering, reflection and transmission of the incident light. Experiments were done in multi-shot mode and single-shot threshold fluences were extracted by taking incubation into account. Since melting requires a well-defined energy density, we found the threshold depends on the film thickness whenever this is smaller than the range of electronic energy transport. The dependence of the threshold fluence on the pulse length and film thickness can be well described by the two-temperature model, proving that laser damage in metals is a purely thermal process even for femtosecond pulses. The importance of electron-phonon coupling is reflected by the great difference in electron diffusion depths of noble and transition metals.     

Ferromagnetism and electron-phonon coupling in the manganites

The physics of ferromagnetic doped manganites, such as La 1-x Ca x MnO 3 with x ≈ 0.2-0.4, is reviewed. The concept of double exchange is discussed within the general framework of itinerant electron magnetism. The new feature in this context is the coupling of electrons to local phonon modes. Emphasis is placed on the quantum nature of the phonons and the link with polaron physics. However it is stressed that the manganites fall into an intermediate coupling regime where standard small-polaron theory does not apply. The recently-developed many-body coherent potential approximation is able to deal with this situation and Green's recent application to the Holstein double-exchange model is described. Issues addressed include the nature of the basic electronic structure, the metal-insulator transition, a unification of colossal magnetoresistance, pressure effects and the isotope effect, pseudogaps in spectroscopy and the effect of electron-phonon coupling on spin waves.     

ScannerS: constraining the phase diagram of a complex scalar singlet at the LHC

We present the first version of a new tool to scan the parameter space of generic scalar potentials, ScannerS (Coimbra et al., ScannerS project., 2013). The main goal of ScannerS is to help distinguish between different patterns of symmetry breaking for each scalar potential. In this work we use it to investigate the possibility of excluding regions of the phase diagram of several versions of a complex singlet extension of the Standard Model, with future LHC results. We find that if another scalar is found, one can exclude a phase with a dark matter candidate in definite regions of the parameter space, while predicting whether a third scalar to be found must be lighter or heavier. The first version of the code is publicly available and contains various generic core routines for tree level vacuum stability analysis, as well as implementations of collider bounds, dark matter constraints, electroweak precision constraints and tree level unitarity.     

Temperature dependence of the optical transition energies of carbon nanotubes: the role of electron-phonon coupling and thermal expansion

Tunable Raman spectroscopy is used to measure the optical transition energies Eii of individual single wall carbon nanotubes. Eii is observed to shift down in energy by as much as 50 meV, from -160 to 300 degrees C, in contrast with previous measurements performed on nanotubes in alternate environments, which show upshifts and downshifts in Eii with temperature. We determine that electron-phonon coupling explains our experimental observations of nanotubes suspended in air, neglecting thermal expansion. In contrast, for nanotubes in surfactant or in bundles, thermal expansion of the nanotubes' environment exerts a nonisotropic pressure on the nanotube that dominates over the effect of electron-phonon coupling.     

Strong correlation, electron-phonon interaction and critical fluctuations: isotope effect, pseudogap formation, and phase diagram of the cuprates

Within the Hubbard-Holstein model with long-range Coulomb forces, we revisit the charge-ordering (CO) scenario for the superconducting cuprates and account for the presence or the absence of a formed stripe phase in different classes of cuprates. We also evaluate the mean-field and the fluctuation-corrected critical lines for CO and we relate them with the various pseudogap crossover lines occurring in the cuprates and we discuss a mechanism for their peculiar isotopic dependence. Considering the dynamical nature of the CO transition, we explain the spread of T∗ and of its isotopic shift, obtained with experimental probes with different characteristic time scales.     

Non-adiabatic electron-phonon coupling in the two-sites two-electrons system

The electronic and ibrational properies of a system of two electrons or excitons at two sites are investgated in a simple model combining the ideas of the Hubbard and Holstein Hamiltonans. We analyse the competition of the interactions which enter this model as parameers for the transfer energyT, the (on-site) Coulomb energyU, the short-range electron-phonon coupling, represented by the stabilization energyS and the vibrational energy (). For the whole range of these parameters the spectrum of the 50 lowest eigenstates has been numerically determined. As in the adiabatic approximation (=0) the ground state suffers a structural change due to a charge transfer instability, ifS is sufficiently large. In the case of finite this transition to a distorted state is no longer sharply defined by a criticalS. With regard to the lowest excited states the electronic system can be described by the adiabatic ground state for smallS as well as for largeS. Correspondingly the eigenfunctions of undisplaced or displaced harmonic oscillators, respectively, yield the lattice dynamics. In the range of intermediateS the situation is more complicated. Here the relation between the eigenfunctions and the adiabatic potentials as well as the appearance of metastable states and their connection to the charge transfer is discussed at some length.     

The electron-phonon coupling constant of amorphous metals

The Eliashberg function and the electron-phonon coupling constant fora-Ga are calculated in the framework of the free-electron model, using measured sound velocities and resistivity data for the normal state. In particular, the contribution of the soft transverse acoustic phonons is estimated. For phonon frequencies up to 300 GHz, it amounts to not more than 5% of the total coupling constant.     

Understanding the insulating phase in colossal magnetoresistance manganites: shortening of the Jahn-Teller long-bond across the phase diagram of La1-xCaxMnO3

The detailed evolution of the magnitude of the local Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion in La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO3 is obtained across the phase diagram for 0< or =x< or =0.5 from high-quality neutron diffraction data using the atomic pair distribution function method. A local JT distortion is observed in the insulating phase for all Ca concentrations studied. However, in contrast with earlier local structure studies, its magnitude is not constant, but decreases continuously with increasing Ca content. This observation is at odds with a simple small-polaron picture for the insulating state.     

Isotopic fingerprint of electron-phonon coupling in high-Tc cuprates

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with low-energy tunable photons along the nodal direction of oxygen isotope substituted Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta) reveals a distinct oxygen isotope shift near the electron-boson coupling "kink" in the electronic dispersion. The magnitude (a few meV) and direction of the kink shift are as expected due to the measured isotopic shift of phonon frequency, and are also in agreement with theoretical expectations. This demonstrates the participation of the phonons as dominant players, as well as pinpointing the most relevant of the phonon branches.     

Insensitivity of sub-Kelvin electron-phonon coupling to substrate properties

We have examined the role of the substrate on electron-phonon coupling in normal-metal films of Mn-doped Al at temperatures below 1 K. Normal metal-insulator-superconductor junctions were used to measure the electron temperature in the films as a function of Joule heating power and phonon temperature. Theory suggests that the distribution of phonons available for interaction with electrons in metal films may depend on the acoustic properties of the substrate, namely, that the electron-phonon coupling constant Σ would be larger on the substrate with smaller sound speed. In contrast, our results indicate that within experimental error (typically ±10%), Σ is unchanged among the two acoustically distinct substrates used in our investigation.     

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of electron-doped cuprate superconductors: isotropic electron-phonon coupling

We have performed high resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) studies on electron-doped cuprate superconductors Sm2-xCexCuO4 (x=0.10, 0.15, 0.18), Nd2-xCexCuO4 (x=0.15), and Eu2-xCexCuO4 (x=0.15). Imaginary parts of the electron removal self energy show steplike features due to an electron-bosonic mode coupling. The steplike feature is seen along both nodal and antinodal directions but at energies of 50 and 70 meV, respectively, independent of the doping and rare earth element. Such energy scales can be understood as being due to preferential coupling to half- and full-breathing mode phonons, revealing the phononic origin of the kink structures. Estimated electron-phonon coupling constant lambda from the self energy is roughly independent of the doping and momentum. The isotropic nature of lambda is discussed in comparison with the hole-doped case where a strong anisotropy exists.     

Pressure tuning of electron-phonon coupling: the insulator to metal transition in manganites

An extended temperature and pressure-dependent investigation is carried out on a La0.75Ca0.25MnO3 sample exploiting the infrared absorption technique coupled to a diamond anvil cell. The pressure dependence of the insulator to metal transition temperature T(IM) is determined for the first time up to 11.2 GPa. The T(IM)(P) curve we propose to model the present data has an exponential-like behavior with an associated characteristic pressure P* playing the role of a decay constant. It is found that the equivalence between an external and an internal (chemical) pressure holds over a limited range of pressure, namely, P< or =2P*. Moreover, a certain universality character is associated with the proposed model curve in its ability to account for a large class of low-disorder manganites characterized by intermediate electron-phonon coupling.     

Optical determination of electron-phonon coupling in carbon nanotubes

We report on an optical method to directly measure electron-phonon coupling in carbon nanotubes by correlating the first and second harmonic of the resonant Raman excitation profile. The method is applicable to 1D and 0D systems and is not limited to materials that exhibit photoluminescence. Experimental results for electron-phonon coupling with the radial breathing mode in 5 different nanotubes show coupling strengths from 3-11 meV. The results are in good agreement with the chirality and diameter dependence of the e-ph coupling calculated by Goupalov et al.