Superconductivity and non-Fermi liquid behavior near a nematic quantum critical point.

Lederer, Samuel; Schattner, Yoni; Berg, Erez; Kivelson, Steven A · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Using determinantal quantum Monte Carlo, we compute the properties of a lattice model with spin [Formula: see text] itinerant electrons tuned through a quantum phase transition to an Ising nematic phase. The nematic fluctuations induce superconductivity with a broad dome in the superconducting [Formula: see text] enclosing the nematic quantum critical point. For temperatures above [Formula: see text], we see strikingly non-Fermi liquid behavior, including a "nodal-antinodal dichotomy" reminiscent of that seen in several transition metal oxides. In addition, the critical fluctuations have a strong effect on the low-frequency optical conductivity, resulting in behavior consistent with "bad metal" phenomenology.