Fluctuating Gap Model Research Articles

Non-Fermi-liquid behavior in the fluctuating gap model: From the pole to a zero of the Green’s function

We analyze the non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior of the fluctuating gap model (FGM) of pseudogap behavior in both one and two dimensions. A detailed discussion of quasiparticle renormalization (Z-factor) is given, demonstrating a kind of marginal Fermi-liquid or Luttinger-liquid behavior and topological stability of the bare Fermi surface (the Luttinger theorem). In the two-dimensional case, we discuss the effective picture of the Fermi surface destruction both in the hot spot model of dielectric (AFM, CDW) pseudogap fluctuations and for the qualitatively different case of superconducting d-wave fluctuations, reflecting the NFL spectral density behavior and similar to that observed in ARPES experiments on copper oxides.

Entanglement of a qubit with a single oscillator mode

We solve a model of a qubit strongly coupled to a massive environmental oscillator mode where the qubit back action is treated exactly. Using a Ginzburg-Landau formalism, we derive an effective action for this well-known localization transition. An entangled state emerges as an instanton in the collective qubit-environment degree of freedom and the resulting model is shown to be formally equivalent to a fluctuating gap model of a disordered Peierls chain. Below the transition, spectral weight is transferred to an exponentially small energy scale, leaving the qubit coherent but damped. Unlike the spin-boson model, coherent and effectively localized behaviors may coexist.

Fluctuation effects in disordered Peierls systems

We review the density of states (DOS) and related quantities of quasi one-dimensional disordered Peierls systems in which fluctuation effects of a backscattering potential play a crucial role. The low-energy behavior of non-interacting fermions which are subject to a static random backscattering potential will be described by the strictly one-dimensional fluctuating gap model (FGM). Recently, the FGM has also been used to explain the pseudogap phenomenon in high-Tc superconductors. We develop a non-perturbative method which allows for a simultaneous calculation of the DOS and inverse localization length for an arbitrary given disorder potential by solving a simple initial value problem. In the white noise limit, we recover all known results by solving a Fokker-Planck equation. For the physically interesting case of finite correlation lengths, we use analytical and numerical methods to show that a complex order parameter leads to a suppression of the DOS, i.e. a pseudogap, and that for a real order parameter this pseudogap is overshadowed by a singularity in the DOS. We will also consider the case of classical phase fluctuations which applies to low temperatures where amplitude fluctuations are frozen out. For this regime we present analytic results for the DOS, the inverse localization length, the specific heat, and the Pauli susceptibility.

Fluctuation effects in disordered Peierls systems

We review the density of states (DOS) and related quantities of quasi one-dimensional disordered Peierls systems in which fluctuation effects of a backscattering potential play a crucial role. The low-energy behavior of non-interacting fermions which are subject to a static random backscattering potential will be described by the strictly one-dimensional fluctuating gap model (FGM). Recently, the FGM has also been used to explain the pseudogap phenomenon in high-Tc superconductors. We develop a non-perturbative method which allows for a simultaneous calculation of the DOS and inverse localization length for an arbitrary given disorder potential by solving a simple initial value problem. In the white noise limit, we recover all known results by solving a Fokker-Planck equation. For the physically interesting case of finite correlation lengths, we use analytical and numerical methods to show that a complex order parameter leads to a suppression of the DOS, i.e. a pseudogap, and that for a real order parameter this pseudogap is overshadowed by a singularity in the DOS. We will also consider the case of classical phase fluctuations which applies to low temperatures where amplitude fluctuations are frozen out. For this regime we present analytic results for the DOS, the inverse localization length, the specific heat, and the Pauli susceptibility.

Fluctuation effects in disordered Peierls systems

AbstractWe review the density of states (DOS) and related quantities of quasi one‐dimensional disordered Peierls systems in which fluctuation effects of a backscattering potential play a crucial role. The low‐energy behavior of non‐interacting fermions which are subject to a static random backscattering potential will be described by the strictly one‐dimensional fluctuating gap model (FGM). Recently, the FGM has also been used to explain the pseudogap phenomenon in high‐Tc superconductors. We develop a non‐perturbative method which allows for a simultaneous calculation of the DOS and inverse localization length for an arbitrary given disorder potential by solving a simple initial value problem. In the white noise limit, we recover all known results by solving a Fokker‐Planck equation. For the physically interesting case of finite correlation lengths, we use analytical and numerical methods to show that a complex order parameter leads to a suppression of the DOS, i.e. a pseudogap, and that for a real order parameter this pseudogap is overshadowed by a singularity in the DOS. We will also consider the case of classical phase fluctuations which applies to low temperatures where amplitude fluctuations are frozen out. For this regime we present analytic results for the DOS, the inverse localization length, the specific heat, and the Pauli susceptibility.

NMR in the pseudogap- and charge-density-wave states of (TaSe 4) 2I

We have studied the 77 Se NMR spectrum and spin-lattice relaxation rate (SLRR) in the quasi-one-dimensional conductor (TaSe 4 ) 2 I in the temperature range of 150 to 320 K, i.e., both above and below the temperature of the charge-density wave transition, T c = 263 K. Both the Knight shift and the SLRR vary strongly with temperature in the entire range investigated with no sharp feature at T c . In particular, no critical divergence or Hebel-Slichter peak is observed. The SLRR is strongly non-Korringa, i.e., not proportional to the square of the Knight shift times temperature. All these findings are interpreted in terms of a fluctuating gap model.

Exactly solvable toy model for the pseudogap state

We present an exactly solvable toy model which describes the emergence of a pseudogap in an electronic system due to a fluctuating off-diagonal order parameter. In one dimension our model reduces to the fluctuating gap model (FGM) with a gap Delta (x) that is constrained to be of the form Delta (x) = A e^{i Q x}, where A and Q are random variables. The FGM was introduced by Lee, Rice and Anderson [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf{31}}, 462 (1973)] to study fluctuation effects in Peierls chains. We show that their perturbative results for the average density of states are exact for our toy model if we assume a Lorentzian probability distribution for Q and ignore amplitude fluctuations. More generally, choosing the probability distributions of A and Q such that the average of Delta (x) vanishes and its covariance is < Delta (x) Delta^{*} (x^{prime}) > = Delta_s^2 exp[ {- | x - x^{\prime} | / \xi}], we study the combined effect of phase and amplitude fluctutations on the low-energy properties of Peierls chains. We explicitly calculate the average density of states, the localization length, the average single-particle Green's function, and the real part of the average conductivity. In our model phase fluctuations generate delocalized states at the Fermi energy, which give rise to a finite Drude peak in the conductivity. We also find that the interplay between phase and amplitude fluctuations leads to a weak logarithmic singulatity in the single-particle spectral function at the bare quasi-particle energies. In higher dimensions our model might be relevant to describe the pseudogap state in the underdoped cuprate superconductors.

Exact numerical calculation of the density of states of the fluctuating gap model

We develop a powerful numerical algorithm for calculating the density of states rho(omega) of the fluctuating gap model, which describes the low-energy physics of disordered Peierls and spin-Peierls chains. We obtain rho(omega) with unprecedented accuracy from the solution of a simple initial value problem for a single Riccati equation. Generating Gaussian disorder with large correlation length xi by means of a simple Markov process, we present a quantitative study of the behavior of rho (omega) in the pseudogap regime. In particular, we show that in the commensurate case and in the absence of forward scattering the pseudogap is overshadowed by a Dyson singularity below a certain energy scale omega^{ast}, which we explicitly calculate as a function of xi.

INSTANTON CALCULATION OF THE DENSITY OF STATES OF DISORDERED PEIERLS CHAINS

We use the optimal fluctuation method to find the density of electron states inside the pseudogap in disordered Peierls chains. The electrons are described by the one-dimensional Dirac Hamiltonian with randomly varying mass (the Fluctuating Gap Model). We establish a relation between the disorder average in this model and the quantum-mechanical average for a certain double-well problem. We show that the optimal disorder fluctuation, which has the form of a soliton–antisoliton pair, corresponds to the instanton trajectory in the double-well problem. We use the instanton method developed for the double-well problem to find the contribution to the density of states from disorder realizations close to the optimal fluctuation.

Singularities and Pseudogaps in the Density of States of Peierls Chains

We develop a non-perturbative method to calculate the density of states (DOS) of the fluctuating gap model describing the low-energy physics of electrons on a disordered Peierls chain. For real order parameter field we calculate the DOS at the Fermi energy exactly as a functional of the disorder for a chain of finite length L. Averaging rho (0) with respect to a Gaussian probability distribution of the Peierls order parameter, we show that in the thermodynamic limit the average DOS at the Fermi energy diverges for any finite value of the correlation length above the Peierls transition. Pseudogap behavior emerges only if the Peierls order parameter is finite and sufficiently large.

Instanton in disordered Peierls systems

We study disordered Peierls systems described by the fluctuating gap model. We show that the typical electron states with energies lying deep inside the pseudogap are localized near large disorder fluctuations (instantons), which have the form of a soliton-antisoliton pair. Using the “saddle-point” method we obtain the average density of states and the average optical absorption coefficient at small energy.