Equivalence of Single-Particle and Transport Lifetimes from Hybridization Fluctuations

Abstract

Single band theories of quantum criticality successfully describe a single-particle lifetime with non-Fermi liquid temperature dependence, but they fail to obtain a charge transport rate with the same dependence unless the interaction is assumed to be momentum independent. Here we demonstrate that a quantum critical material, with a long-range mode that transmutes electrons between light and heavy bands, exhibits a quasilinear temperature dependence for both the single-particle and the charge transport lifetimes, despite the strong momentum dependence of the interaction.