2012/07/31 by V. R. Shaginyan, A. Z. Msezane, K. G. Popov +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1134/s0021364012180105
published as JETP Letters 96, 397-404 (2012) · 7 pages, 4 figures, revised and accepted by JETP Lett
arxiv created 2012/09/14 · openalex publication_date 2012/11/01 · arxiv updated 2012/12/03 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Physicists are engaged in vigorous debate on the nature of the quantum critical points (QCP) governing the low-temperature properties of heavy-fermion 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 ρ0 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 ρ0 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 heavy-fermion metals.