2007/05/31 by Eran Lebanon, P. Coleman, Piers Coleman
Physics and Astronomy · #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.physb.2007.10.312
published as Physica B, 403, 1194-1198 (2008). · Invited talk at SCES 2007, Houston, Texas
arxiv created 2007/05/31 · openalex publication_date 2007/11/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We discuss how Anderson's ideas of nominal and real valence can be incorporated into the current discussion of heavy electron quantum criticality. In the heavy electron phase, the nominal valence of a screened magnetic ion differs from its real valence by one unit. We identify this discrepancy with the formation of a positively charged background we call the Kondo pseudo-potential. At the quantum critical point, the sudden collapse of the heavy electron Fermi surface can be identified with the return of the nominal to the real valence. This leads to the interesting idea that the heavy electron quantum critical point may involve locally critical charge degrees of freedom. We discuss how this might come about within a large N Schwinger boson scheme.