Structure of the normal state and origin of the Schottky anomaly in the correlated heavy-fermion superconductor UTe2

Abstract

The recently discovered $\mathrm{U}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ superconductor is regarded as a heavy-fermion mixed-valence system with very peculiar properties within the normal and superconducting (SC) states. It shows no signs of magnetic order, but has a strong anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and SC critical field. In addition to a heavy-fermion-like behavior in the normal state, it exhibits a distinctive Schottky-type anomaly at $\ensuremath{\sim}12$ K and a characteristic excitations gap $\ensuremath{\sim}35\ensuremath{-}40$ K. Here, we show, by virtue of dynamical mean-field theory calculations with a quasiatomic treatment of electron correlations, that ab initio-derived crystal-field splitting of the $5{f}^{2}$ ionic configuration yields agreement with these experimental observations. A close analogy of the normal paramagnetic state of $\mathrm{U}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ to that of $\mathrm{U}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{2}{\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$ in the Kondo arrest scenario is revealed. We consider the impact of anisotropic superexchange interactions within the U-U structural dimer on magnetization and development of strong orbital and magnetic moment fluctuations in $\mathrm{U}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$.