Non-Drude Behaviour of Optical Conductivity in Kondo-Lattice Systems

Abstract

The optical conductivity in a Kondo lattice system is presented in terms of the memory function formalism. I use Kondo-lattice Hamiltonian for explicit calculations. I compute the frequency dependent imaginary part of the memory function ($M^{\p\p}(\om)$), and the real part of the memory function $M^{\p}(\om)$ by using the Kramers-Kronig transformation. Optical conductivity is computed using the generalized Drude formula. I find that high frequency tail of the optical conductivity scales as $\sigma(\om) \sim \frac{1}{\om}$ instead of the Drude $\frac{1}{\om^2}$ law. Such a behaviour is seen in strange metals. My work points out that it may be the magnetic scattering mechanisms that are important for the anomalous behaviour of strange metals.