Evidence for a delocalization quantum phase transition without symmetry breaking in CeCoIn<sub>5</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34855511.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aaz4566.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The study of quantum phase transitions that are not clearly associated with broken symmetry is a major effort in condensed matter physics, particularly in regard to the problem of high-temperature superconductivity, for which such transitions are thought to underlie the mechanism of superconductivity itself. Here we argue that the putative quantum critical point in the prototypical unconventional superconductor CeCoIn<sub>5</sub> is characterized by the delocalization of electrons in a transition that connects two Fermi surfaces of different volumes, with no apparent broken symmetry. Drawing on established theory of f-electron metals, we discuss an interpretation for such a transition that involves the fractionalization of spin and charge, a model that effectively describes the anomalous transport behavior we measured for the Hall effect.