Quantum phase transition in the two-band hubbard model

Non-homogeneous pairing in disordered two-orbital s-wave superconductors

We investigate the effects of non-magnetic disorder in a hybridized two-dimensional two-orbital s-wave superconductor (SC) model. The situation in which electronic orbitals overlap such that the hybridizationVi,jamong them is antisymmetric, under inversion symmetry, was taken into account. The on-site disorder is given by a random impurity potentialW. We find that while the random disorder acts to the detriment of superconductivity, hybridization proceeds to favor it. Accordingly, hybridization plays an important role in two-orbital models of superconductivity, in order to hold the long-range order against the increase of disorder. This makes the present model eligible to describe real materials, since the hybridization may be induced by pressure or doping. In addition, the regime from moderate to strong disorder reveals that the system is broken into SC islands with correlated local order parameters. These correlations persist to distances of several order lattice spacing which corresponds to the size of the SC-Islands.

Mott transition, magnetic and orbital orders in the ground state of the two-band Hubbard model using variational slave-spin mean field formalism

We study the ground state phase diagram of the degenerate two-band Hubbard model at integer fillings as a function of onsite Hubbard interactionUand Hund's exchange couplingJ. We use a variational slave-spin mean field method which allows symmetry broken states to be studied within the computationally less intensive slave-spin mean field formalism. The results show that at half-filling, the ground state at smallerUis a Slater antiferromagnet with substantial local charge fluctuations. AsUis increased, the antiferromagnetic (AF) state develops a Heisenberg behavior, finally undergoing a first-order transition to a Mott insulating AF state at a critical interactionU_cwhich is of the order of the bandwidth. Introducing the Hund's couplingJcorrelates the system more and reducesU_cdrastically. At quarter-filling with one electron per site, the ground state at smallerUis paramagnetic metallic. At finiteJ, as interaction is increased beyond a lower critical valueU_c1, it goes to a fully spin polarized ferromagnetic state coexisting with an antiferro-orbital order. Further increase inUbeyond a higher critical valueU_c2results in the Mott insulating state where local charge fluctuation vanishes.

Emergence of a common energy scale close to the orbital-selective Mott transition

We calculate the spectra and spin susceptibilities of a Hubbard model with two bands having different bandwidths but the same on-site interaction, with parameters close to the orbital-selective Mott transition, using dynamical mean-field theory. If the Hund's rule coupling is sufficiently strong, one common energy scale emerges which characterizes both the location of kinks in the self-energy and extrema of the diagonal spin susceptibilities. A physical explanation of this energy scale is derived from a Kondo-type model. We infer that for multiband systems local spin dynamics rather than spectral functions determine the location of kinks in the effective band structure.

Dynamical cluster approximation study of the anisotropic two-orbital Hubbard model

We investigate the properties of a two-orbital Hubbard model with unequal bandwidths on the square lattice in the framework of the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA) combined with a continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. We explore the effect of short-range spatial fluctuations on the nature of the metal-insulator transition and the possible occurrence of an orbital-selective Mott transition (OSMT) as a function of cluster size N{c}. We observe that for N{c}=2 no OSMT is present, instead a band insulator state for both orbitals is stabilized at low temperatures due to the appearance of an artificial local ordered state. For N{c}=4 the DCA calculations suggest the presence of five different phases which originate out of the cooperation and competition between spatial fluctuations and orbitals of different bandwidths and an OSMT phase is stabilized. Based on our results, we discuss the nature of the gap opening.

Determinant quantum monte carlo study of the orbitally selective mott transition

We study the conductivity, density of states, and magnetic correlations of a two-dimensional, two-band fermion Hubbard model using determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) simulations. We show that an orbitally selective Mott transition (OSMT) occurs in which the more weakly interacting band can be metallic despite complete localization of the strongly interacting band. The DQMC method allows us to test the validity of the use of a momentum independent self-energy which has been a central approximation in previous OSMT studies. In addition, we show that long range antiferromagnetic order (LRAFMO) is established in the insulating phase, similar to the single band, square lattice Hubbard Hamiltonian. Because the critical interaction strengths for the onset of insulating behavior are much less than the bandwidth of the itinerant orbital, we suggest that LRAFMO plays a key role in the transitions.

Spin freezing transition and non-Fermi-liquid self-energy in a three-orbital model

A single-site dynamical mean-field study of a three band model with the rotationally invariant interactions appropriate to the t_(2g) levels of a transition metal oxide reveals a quantum phase transition between a paramagnetic metallic phase and an incoherent metallic phase with frozen moments. The Mott transitions occurring at electron densities n=2, 3 per site take place inside the frozen moment phase. The critical line separating the two phases is characterized by a self-energy with the frequency dependence Sigma(omega) approximately sqrt[omega] and a broad quantum critical regime. The findings are discussed in the context of the power law observed in the optical conductivity of SrRuO3.