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We study the overscreened multi-channel Kondo (MCK) model using the recently developed unitary renormalization group (URG) technique. Our results display the importance of ground state degeneracy in explaining various important properties like the breakdown of screening and the presence of local non-Fermi liquids. The impurity susceptibility of the intermediate coupling fixed point Hamiltonian in the zero-bandwidth (or star graph) limit shows a power-law divergence at low temperature, signalling its critical nature. Despite the absence of inter-channel coupling in the MCK fixed point Hamiltonian, the study of mutual information between any two channels shows non-zero correlation between them. A spectral flow analysis of the star graph reveals that the degenerate ground state manifold possesses topological quantum numbers. The low energy effective Hamiltonian obtained upon adding a finite non-zero conduction bath dispersion to the star graph Hamiltonian for both the two and three-channel cases displays the presence of local non-Fermi liquids arising from inter-channel quantum fluctuations. Discontinuous behaviour is observed in several measures of ground state entanglement, signalling the underlying orthogonality catastrophe associated with the degenerate ground state manifold. We extend our results to underscreened and perfectly screened MCK models through duality arguments. A study of channel anisotropy under renormalisation flow reveals a series of quantum phase transitions due to the change in ground state degeneracy. Our work thus presents a template for the study of how a degenerate ground state manifold arising from symmetry and duality properties in a multichannel quantum impurity model can lead to novel multicritical phases at intermediate coupling., 39 pages, 24 Figures, 123 References; Supplementary Materials attached

Local quantum criticality in itinerant fermion systems has been extensively investigated through the soft-gap Anderson impurity model, wherein a localized, correlated impurity, hybridizes with a broad conduction band with a singular, $|\omega|^r$, density of states. However, lattice models hosting quantum critical points (QCPs), do not appear to have such a spectrum emerging at the QCP. In this work, we report the emergence of such a singular form of the density of states in a three-orbital lattice model, within dynamical mean field theory, precisely at a quantum critical point, separating a gapless, Fermi liquid, metallic phase from a gapped, Mott insulating phase. A temperature-dependent exponent, $\alpha$, defined using the corresponding Matsubara self-energy, is found to vary from $+1$ deep in the FL regime, to $-1$ in the Mott insulator regime. Interestingly, we find that $\alpha$ becomes temperature independent, and hence isosbestic, precisely at the QCP. The isosbestic exponent is shown to lead to an emergent soft-gap spectrum, $|\omega|^r$ at the QCP, where $r = |\alpha_{\rm iso}|$. We discuss the implications of our findings for non-Fermi liquid behaviour in the quantum critical region of the phase diagram., Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures

We use the recently developed finite cluster typical medium approach to study the Anderson localization transition in three dimensions. Applying our method to the box and binary alloy disorder distributions, we find a fast convergence with the cluster size. We demonstrate the importance of the typical medium environment and the non-local spatial correlations for the proper characterization of the localization transition. As the cluster size increases, our typical medium cluster method recovers the correct critical disorder strength for the transition. Our findings highlight the importance of the non-local cluster corrections for capturing the localization behavior of the mobility edge trajectories. Our results demonstrate that the typical medium cluster approach developed here provides a consistent and systematic description of the Anderson localization transition in the framework of the effective medium embedding schemes., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures

We investigate the effect of spatially correlated disorder on the Anderson transition of phonons in three dimensions using a Greens function based approach, namely, the typical medium dynamical cluster approximation (TMDCA), in mass-disordered systems. We numerically demonstrate that correlated disorder with pairwise correlations mitigates the localization of the vibrational modes. A correlation driven localization-delocalization transition can emerge in a three-dimensional disordered system with an increase in the strength of correlations.

We report the development and application of a method for carrying out computational investigations of the effects of mass and force-constant (FC) disorder on phonon spectra. The method is based on the recently developed typical medium dynamical cluster approach, which is a Green's function approach. Excellent quantitative agreement with previous exact diagonalization results establishes the veracity of the method. Application of the method to a model system of binary mass and an FC-disordered system leads to several findings. A narrow resonance, significantly below the van Hove singularity, that has been termed the boson peak, is seen to emerge for low soft particle concentrations. We show, using the typical phonon spectrum, that the states constituting the boson peak cross over from being completely localized to being extended as a function of increasing soft particle concentration. In general, an interplay of mass and FC disorder is found to be cooperative in nature, enhancing phonon localization over all frequencies. However, for a certain range of frequencies, and depending on material parameters, FC disorder can delocalize the states that were localized by mass disorder, and vice versa. Modeling vacancies as weakly bonded sites with vanishing mass, we find that vacancies, even at very low concentrations, are extremely effective in localizing phonons. Thus, inducing vacancies is proposed as a promising route for efficient thermoelectrics. Finally, we use model parameters corresponding to the alloy system, ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Pt}}_{x}$, and we show that mass disorder alone is insufficient to explain the pseudogap in the phonon spectrum; the concomitant presence of FC disorder is necessary.

Intermediate band semiconductors hold the promise to significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells but only if the intermediate impurity band is metallic. We apply a recently developed first principles method to investigate the origin of electron localization in Ti doped Si, a promising candidate for intermediate band solar cells. We compute the critical Ti concentration and compare it against the available experimental data. Although Anderson localization is often overlooked in the context of intermediate band solar cells, our results show that in Ti doped Si it plays a more important role in the metal insulator transition than Mott localization. To this end we have devised a way to gauge the relative strengths of these two localization mechanisms that can be applied to study localization in doped semiconductors in general. Our findings have important implications for the theory of intermediate band solar cells.

The effect of disorder on lattice vibrational modes has been a topic of interest for several decades. In this work, we employ a Green's function based approach, namely the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA), to investigate phonons in mass disordered systems. Detailed benchmarks with previous exact calculations are used to validate the method in a wide parameter space. An extension of the method, namely the typical medium DCA (TMDCA), is used to study Anderson localization of phonons in three dimensions. We show that, for binary isotopic disorder, lighter impurities induce localized modes beyond the bandwidth of the host system, while heavier impurities lead to a partial localization of the low-frequency acoustic modes. For a uniform (box) distribution of masses, the physical spectrum is shown to develop long tails comprising mostly localized modes. The mobility edge separating extended and localized modes, obtained through the TMDCA, agrees well with results from the transfer matrix method. A re-entrance behavior of the mobility edge with increasing disorder is found that is similar to, but somewhat more pronounced than, the behavior in disordered electronic systems. Our work establishes a new computational approach, which recovers the thermodynamic limit, is versatile and computationally inexpensive, to investigate lattice vibrations in disordered lattice systems., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

Great progress has been made in the last several years towards understanding the properties of disordered electronic systems. In part, this is made possible by recent advances in quantum effective medium methods which enable the study of disorder and electron-electronic interactions on equal footing. They include dynamical mean field theory and the coherent potential approximation, and their cluster extension, the dynamical cluster approximation. Despite their successes, these methods do not enable the first-principles study of the strongly disordered regime, including the effects of electronic localization. The main focus of this review is the recently developed typical medium dynamical cluster approximation for disordered electronic systems. This method has been constructed to capture disorder-induced localization, and is based on a mapping of a lattice onto a quantum cluster embedded in an effective typical medium, which is determined self-consistently. Here we provide an overview of various recent applications of the typical medium dynamical cluster approximation to a variety of models and systems, including single and multi-band Anderson model, and models with local and off-diagonal disorder. We then present the application of the method to realistic systems in the framework of the density functional theory., Comment: 58 pages, 46 figures

Kondo insulators are strongly correlated system in which a clean insulating gap emerges only at very low temperature due to many-body effects involving localized $f$-electrons. However, certain Kondo insulators, like SmB$_6$ and Ce${_3}$Bi${_4}$Pt${_3}$, display metallic behaviors at extremely low temperatures, that have defied current understanding. Recent advances in topological effects in materials has raised the attention on the protected surface states in these "topological Kondo insulators" as a potential resolution to some of the puzzling behaviors. Here we resolve these puzzles via a different route, by showing that the emergent Kondo insulating scale is extremely vulnerable against moderate degree of disorder, such that the gap is filled with a small number of states. Therefore, the real samples are probably never truly insulating and this in turn compromises the essential building block of topological considerations. Our results suggest strongly that systems like the Slater insulators would be a more promising direction to extend the realm of topology to strongly correlated systems., Comment: Accepted in Physical Review Research

We provide strong evidence of a quantum critical point (QCP) associated with the destruction of Kondo screening in the Anderson-Hubbard model for interacting electrons with quenched disorder. A unique crossover energy scale, $\omega^*$ separating the Fermi liquid and non-Fermi liquid (nFL) scattering dynamics on the metallic side of the quantum critical fan is identified. The scale vanishes at the disorder driven QCP. We interpret our results by measuring the distribution of Kondo scales and find that the QCP occurs when this distribution acquires a finite intercept, indicating a Kondo destruction scenario, albeit distinct from the local QCP picture. The nFL behavior is shown to stem from an interplay of strong electron-electron interactions and the systematic inclusion of short-range dynamical fluctuations induced by the underlying random potential. The results have been obtained through a computational framework based on the typical medium dynamical cluster approximation., Comment: Text modified compared to v1

We generalize the multiband typical medium dynamical cluster approximation and the formalism introduced by Blackman, Esterling and Berk so that it can deal with localization in multiband disordered systems with both diagonal and off-diagonal disorder with complicated potentials. We also introduce a new ansatz for the angle resolved typical density of states that greatly improves the numerical stability of the method while preserving the independence of scattering events at different frequencies. Starting from the first-principles effective Hamiltonian, we apply this method to the diluted magnetic semiconductor Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$N, and find the impurity band is completely localized for Mn concentrations $x, Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

Perturbative schemes utilizing a spectral moment expansion are well known and extensively used for investigating the physics of model Hamiltonians and real material systems. The advantages they offer, in terms of being computationally inexpensive, with real frequency output at zero and finite temperatures, compensate for their deficiencies and offer a quick, qualitative analysis of the system behavior. In this work, we have developed a method, that can be classified as a multi-orbital iterative perturbation theory (MO-IPT) to study N-fold degenerate and non degenerate Anderson impurity models. As applications of the solver, we have combined the method with dynamical mean field theory to explore lattice models like the single orbital Hubbard model, covalent band insulator and the multi-orbital Hubbard model for density-density type interactions in different parameter regimes. The Hund's coupling effects in case of multiple orbitals is also studied. The limitations and quality of results are gauged through extensive comparison with data from the numerically exact continuous time quantum Monte Carlo method (hybridization expansion CTQMC). In general we observe that the agreement with CTQMC results gets better as we move away from particle-hole symmetry. We have integrated MO-IPT with density functional theory based electronic structure methods to study real material systems. As a test case, we have studied the classic, strongly correlated electronic material, SrVO$_3$. A comparison of density of states and photo emission spectrum (PES) with results obtained from different impurity solvers and experiments yields good agreement., 20 pages, 20 figures

The paramagnetic metallic phase of the Anderson-Hubbard model (AHM) is investigated using a non-perturbative local moment approach within the framework of dynamical mean field theory with a typical medium. Our focus is on the breakdown of the metallic phase near the metal-insulators transition as seen in the single-particle spectra, scattering rates and the associated distribution of Kondo scales. We demonstrate the emergence of a universal, underlying low energy scale, $T_K^{peak}$. This lies close to the peak of the distribution of Kondo scales obtained within the metallic phase of the paramagnetic AHM. Spectral dynamics for energies, $\omega\lesssim T_K^{peak}$ display Fermi liquid universality crossing over to an incoherent universal dynamics for $\omega\gg T_K^{peak}$ in the scaling regime. Such universal dynamics indicate that within a local theory the low to moderately low energy physics is governed by an effective, {\it disorder renormalised} Kondo screening., Comment: 13 pages 8 figures including appendix

Thermolysis of Ni butanethiolate in a sulfur atmosphere has been carried out at 300 and 600 °C to produce NiS2 nanocrystalline films with mean crystallite sizes of 16 and 192 nm and resistivity values of ∼451 and 3540 μΩ·m, respectively; the resistivity values are ∼2 orders of magnitude less compared to the bulk value (12000 μΩ·m). This is a significant observation since NiS2 is an insulator in the bulk. Combining electrostatic force microscopy, transport, and surface degradation experiments, we establish conclusively that the surface layer of NiS2 is metallic. The density of the surface conduction states computed through the variable range hopping model is found to be comparable to the bulk density of states of good metals. The precursor is also amenable for patterning by electron beam and molding.

The electrical transport of photogenerated charge carriers in disordered polymer semiconductors is reviewed. We emphasize that the mobility parameter in these disordered semiconducting systems is not a well-defined quantity. We highlight the utility of scanning probe photocurrent technique on variety of polymers in an asymmetric-electrode patterned configuration. The multiple length and time scales present in carrier transport processes are indicated by the large observed decay length scales in these systems.

We present here a discrete circuit spreading impedance network model for highly disordered semiconducting polymeric Schottky devices. Qualitative arguments are presented to correlate the parameters of the spreading function, which represents the network connectivity in the model, to the underlying morphology of the polymer. A detailed theoretical study of the lateral charge transport in organic Schottky devices is carried out using the model. We observe and analyze the dependence of the lateral photovoltage (LPV) on the polymer morphology, incident power, material specific Schottky junction parameters and the modulation frequency. The model is shown to account for a variety of experimental observations on poly-(3-hexylthiophene) and poly-[2- ${\hbox {methoxy}}$ ,5-(2- ${\hbox {ethylhexoxy}})$ -1, 4- ${\hbox {phenylene~vinylene}}$ ]-based position sensitive devices, while being physically transparent and computationally efficient. Using the model, we highlight those parameter regimes that would be optimal for position sensing applications.

A first-principles investigation of cubic-BaRuO$_3$, by combining density functional theory with dynamical mean-field theory and a hybridization expansion continuous time quantum Monte-Carlo solver, has been carried out. Non-magnetic calculations with appropriately chosen on-site Coulomb repulsion, $U$ and Hund's exchange, $J$, for single-particle dynamics and static susceptibility show that cubic-BaRuO$_3$ is in a spin-frozen state at temperatures above the ferromagnetic transition point. A strong red shift with increasing $J$ of the peak in the real frequency dynamical susceptibility indicates a dramatic suppression of the Fermi liquid coherence scale as compared to the bare parameters in cubic-BaRuO$_3$. The self-energy also shows clear deviation from Fermi liquid behaviour that manifests in the single-particle spectrum. Such a clean separation of energy scales in this system provides scope for an incoherent spin-frozen (SF) phase, that extends over a wide temperature range, to manifest in non-Fermi liquid behaviour and to be the precursor for the magnetically ordered ground state., 10 pages, 12 figures, 1 table

We use the recently developed typical medium dynamical cluster (TMDCA) approach~[Ekuma \etal,~\textit{Phys. Rev. B \textbf{89}, 081107 (2014)}] to perform a detailed study of the Anderson localization transition in three dimensions for the Box, Gaussian, Lorentzian, and Binary disorder distributions, and benchmark them with exact numerical results. Utilizing the nonlocal hybridization function and the momentum resolved typical spectra to characterize the localization transition in three dimensions, we demonstrate the importance of both spatial correlations and a typical environment for the proper characterization of the localization transition in all the disorder distributions studied. As a function of increasing cluster size, the TMDCA systematically recovers the re-entrance behavior of the mobility edge for disorder distributions with finite variance, obtaining the correct critical disorder strengths, and shows that the order parameter critical exponent for the Anderson localization transition is universal. The TMDCA is computationally efficient, requiring only a small cluster to obtain qualitative and quantitative data in good agreement with numerical exact results at a fraction of the computational cost. Our results demonstrate that the TMDCA provides a consistent and systematic description of the Anderson localization transition., 20 Pages, 19 Figures, 3 Tables

We report the first application of critical cluster techniques to the Mott metal-insulator transition in vanadium dioxide. We show that the geometric properties of the metallic and insulating puddles observed by scanning near-field infrared microscopy are consistent with the system passing near criticality of the random field Ising model as temperature is varied. The resulting large barriers to equilibrium may be the source of the unusually robust hysteresis phenomena associated with the metal-insulator transition in this system., 6 pages, 5 figures, 1 supplementary information

A bilayer system comprising a Kondo insulator coupled to a simple metal (KI-M) is considered. Employing the framework of dynamical mean field theory, the model system is shown to exhibit a surface of quantum critical points (QCPs), that separates a Kondo screened, Fermi liquid phase from a local moment, Mott insulating phase. The quantum critical nature of these Mott transitions is characterized by the vanishing of (a) the coherence scale on the Fermi liquid side, and (b) the Mott gap on the MI side. In contrast to the usual `large to small' Fermi surface (FS) QCPs in heavy fermion systems, the bilayer KI-M system exhibits a complete FS destruction., Comment: main text 4 figures+additional information, typos corrected

Conducting nanowire networks find diverse applications in solar cells, touch-screens, transparent heaters, sensors, and various related transparent conducting electrode (TCE) devices. The performances of these devices depend on effective resistance, transmittance, and local current distribution in these networks. Although, there have been rigorous studies addressing resistance and transmittance in TCE, not much attention is paid on studying the distribution of current. Present work addresses this compelling issue of understanding current distribution in TCE networks using analytical as well as Monte-Carlo approaches. We quantified the current carrying backbone region against isolated and dangling regions as a function of wire density (ranging from percolation threshold to many multiples of threshold) and compared the wired connectivity with those obtained from template-based methods. Further, the current distribution in the obtained backbone is studied using Kirchhoff's law, which reveals that a significa...

Kondo-hole substitution is a unique probe for exploring the interplay of interactions, f-electron dilution and disorder in heavy fermion materials. Within the diluted periodic Anderson model, we investigate the changes in single-particle dynamics as well as response functions, as a function of Kondo hole concentration ($x$) and temperature. We show that the spectral weight transfers due to Kondo hole substitution has characteristics that are different from those induced by temperature; The dc resistivity crosses over from a highly non-monotonic form with a coherence peak in the $x\rightarrow 0$ limit to a monotonic single-impurity like form that saturates at low temperature. The thermopower exhibits a characteristic maximum as a function of temperature, the value of which changes sign with increasing $x$, and its location is shown to correspond to a low energy scale of the system. The Hall coefficient also changes sign with increasing $x$ at zero temperature and is highly temperature dependent for all $x$. As $x$ is increased beyond a certain $x_c$, the Drude peak and the mid-infrared peak in the optical conductivity vanish almost completely; A peak in the optical scattering rate melts and disappears eventually. We discuss the above-mentioned changes in the properties in terms of a crossover from coherent, Kondo lattice behaviour to single impurity like, incoherent behaviour with increasing $x$. A comparison of theory with experiments carried out for the dc resistivity and the thermopower of Ce$_{1-x}$La$_x$B$_6$ yields good agreement., 12 Pages, 15 figures

We investigate the effect of disorder on the dynamical spectrum of layered $f$-electron systems. With random dilution of $f$-sites in a single Kondo insulating layer, we explore the range and extent to which Kondo hole incoherence can penetrate into adjacent layers. We consider three cases of neighboring layers: band insulator, Kondo insulator and simple metal. The disorder-induced spectral weight transfer, used here for quantification of the proximity effect, decays algebraically with distance from the boundary layer. Further, we show that the spectral weight transfer is highly dependent on the frequency range considered as well as the presence of interactions in the clean adjacent layers. The changes in the low frequency spectrum are very similar when the adjacent layers are either metallic or Kondo insulating, and hence are independent of interactions. In stark contrast, a distinct picture emerges for the spectral weight transfers across large energy scales. The spectral weight transfer over all energy scales is much higher when the adjacent layers are non-interacting as compared to when they are strongly interacting Kondo insulators. Thus, over all scales, interactions screen the disorder effects significantly. We discuss the possibility of a crossover from non-Fermi liquid to Fermi liquid behavior upon increasing the ratio of clean to disordered layers in particle-hole asymmetric systems., 14 pages, 9 figures

Traditional routes to Charge-Density-Wave in transition metal dichalcogenides, relying on Fermi surface nesting or Jahn-Teller instabilities have recently been brought into question. While this calls for exploration of alternative views, paucity of theoretical guidance sustains lively controversy on the origin of, and interplay between CDW and superconductive orders in transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, we explore a preformed excitonic liquid route, heavily supplemented by modern correlated electronic structure calculations, to an excitonic-CDW order in 1T-TiSe$_{2}$. We show that orbital-selective dynamical localisation arising from preformed excitonic liquid correlations is somewhat reminiscent to states proposed for $d$- and $f$-band quantum criticality at the border of magnetism. Excellent quantitative explication of a wide range of spectral and transport responses in both normal and CDW phases provides strong support for our scenario, and suggests that soft excitonic liquid fluctuations mediate superconductivity in a broad class of transition metal dichalcogenides on the border of CDW. This brings the transition metal dichalcogenides closer to the bad actors in $d$- and $f$-band systems, where anomalously soft fluctuations of electronic origin are believed to mediate unconventional superconductivity on the border of magnetism.

The interplay of disorder and interactions is a subject of perennial interest. In this work, we have investigated the effect of disorder due to chemical substitution on the dynamics and transport properties of correlated Fermi liquids. A low frequency analysis in the concentrated and dilute limits shows that the dynamical local potentials arising through disorder averaging generate a linear (in frequency) term in the scattering rate. Such non-Fermi liquid behaviour (nFL) is investigated in detail for Kondo hole substitution in heavy fermions within dynamical mean field theory. We find closed form expressions for the dependence of the static and linear terms in the scattering rate on substitutional disorder and model parameters. We argue that the low temperature resistivity will acquire a linear in temperature term, and show that the Drude peak structure in the optical conductivity will disappear beyond a certain disorder $p_c$, that marks the crossover from lattice coherent to single-impurity behaviour. A full numerical solution of the DMFT equations reveals that the nFL term will show up significantly only in certain regimes, although it is present for any non-zero disorder concentration in principle. We highlight the dramatic changes that occur in the quasiparticle scattering rate in the proximity of $p_c$. Remarkably, we find that the nFL behaviour due to dynamical effects of impurity scattering has features that are distinct from those arising through Griffiths singularities or distribution of Kondo scales. Relevance of our findings to experiments on alloyed correlated systems is pointed out., 8 Pages, 4 figure

The long-standing issue of the competition between the magnetic field and the Kondo effect, favoring, respectively, triplet and singlet ground states is addressed using a cluster slave-rotor mean field theory for the Hubbard model and its spin-correlated, spin-frustrated extensions in 2 dimension. The metamagnetic jump is established and compared with earlier results of dynamical mean-field theory. The present approach also reproduces the emergent super-exchange energy scale in the insulating side. A scaling is found for the critical Zeeman field in terms of the intrinsic coherence scale just below the metal-insulator transition where the critical spin fluctuations are soft. The conditions for metamagnetism to appear at a reasonable field are also underlined. The Gutzwiller analysis on the 2D Hubbard model and a quantum Monte Carlo calculation on the Heisenberg spin system are performed to check the limiting cases of the cluster slave-rotor results for the Hubbard model. Low-field scaling features for magnetization are discussed., arxiv version has 8 pages and 7 figures

Recent experiments on 2H-TaSe(2) contradict the long-held view of the charge density wave arising from a nested band structure. An intrinsically strong coupling view, involving a charge density wave state arising as a Bose condensation of preformed excitons emerges as an attractive, albeit scantily investigated alternative. Using the local density approximation plus multiorbital dynamic mean field theory, we show that this scenario agrees with a variety of normal state data for 2H-TaSe(2). Based thereupon, the ordered states in a subset of dichalcogenides should be viewed as instabilities of a correlated, preformed excitonic liquid.

Many heavy fermion materials are known to crossover from the Kondo lattice regime to the mixed-valent regime or vice-versa as a function of pressure or doping. We study this crossover theoretically by employing the periodic Anderson model within the framework of the dynamical mean field theory. Changes occurring in the dynamics and transport across this crossover are highlighted. As the valence is decreased (increased) relative to the Kondo lattice regime, the Kondo resonance broadens significantly, while the lower (upper) Hubbard band moves closer to the Fermi level. The resistivity develops a two peak structure in the mixed valent regime: a low temperature coherence peak and a high temperature 'Hubbard band' peak. These two peaks merge yielding a broad shallow maximum upon decreasing the valence further. The optical conductivity, likewise exhibits an unusual absorption feature (shoulder) in the deep mid-infrared region, which grows in intensity with decreasing valence. The involvement of the Hubbard bands in dc transport, and of the effective f-level in the optical conductivity are shown to be responsible for the anomalous transport properties. A two-band hybridization-gap model, which neglects incoherent effects due to many-body scattering, commonly employed to understand the optical response in these materials is shown to be inadequate, especially in the mixed-valent regime. Comparison of theory with experiment carried out for (a) dc resistivities of CeRhIn5, Ce2Ni3Si5, CeFeGe3 and YbIr2Si2; (b) pressure dependent resistivity of YbInAu2 and CeCu6; and (c) optical conductivity measurements in YbIr2Si2 yields excellent agreement., Comment: 24 pages,12 figures,accepted in J.Phys.: Condens. Matter

We study the issues of scaling and universality in spectral and transport properties of the infinite dimensional particle--hole symmetric (half-filled) Hubbard model within dynamical mean field theory. One of the simplest and extensively used impurity solvers, namely the iterated perturbation theory approach is reformulated to avoid problems such as analytic continuation of Matsubara frequency quantities or calculating multi-dimensional integrals, while taking full account of the very sharp structures in the Green's functions that arise close to the Mott transitions and in the Mott insulator regime. We demonstrate its viability for the half-filled Hubbard model. Previous known results are reproduced within the present approach. The universal behavior of the spectral functions in the Fermi liquid regime is emphasized, and adiabatic continuity to the non-interacting limit is demonstrated. The dc resistivity in the metallic regime is known to be a non-monotonic function of temperature with a `coherence peak'. This feature is shown to be a universal feature occurring at a temperature roughly equal to the low energy scale of the system. A comparison to pressure dependent dc resistivity experiments on Selenium doped NiS$_2$ yields qualitatively good agreement. Resistivity hysteresis across the Mott transition is shown to be described qualitatively within the present framework. A direct comparison of the thermal hysteresis observed in V$_2$O$_3$ with our theoretical results yields a value of the hopping integral, which we find to be in the range estimated through first-principle methods. Finally, a systematic study of optical conductivity is carried out and the changes in absorption as a result of varying interaction strength and temperature are identified., 19 pages, 12 figures

Recent experiments on 2H-TaSe(2) contradict the long-held view of the charge density wave arising from a nested band structure. An intrinsically strong coupling view, involving a charge density wave state arising as a Bose condensation of preformed excitons emerges as an attractive, albeit scantily investigated alternative. Using the local density approximation plus multiorbital dynamic mean field theory, we show that this scenario agrees with a variety of normal state data for 2H-TaSe(2). Based thereupon, the ordered states in a subset of dichalcogenides should be viewed as instabilities of a correlated, preformed excitonic liquid.

A systematic study of the effect of magnetic field (h) on Hubbard model has been carried out at half filling within dynamical mean field theory. In agreement with previous studies, we find a zero temperature itinerant metamagnetic transition, reflected in the discontinuous changes in magnetization as well as in the hysteresis, from a paramagnetic (PM) metallic state to a polarized quasi-ferromagnetic (QFM) state, at intermediate and large interaction strength ($U$). The jump in magnetization vanishes smoothly with decreasing interaction strength, and at a critical $U$, the transition becomes continuous. The region of `coexistence' of the PM and QFM solutions in the field-$U$ plane obtained in this study agrees quantitatively with recent numerical renormalization group calculations, thus providing an important benchmark. We highlight the changes in dynamics and quasiparticle weight across this transition. The effective mass increases sharply as the transition is approached, exhibiting a cusp-like singularity at the critical field,and decreases with field monotonically beyond the transition. We conjecture that the first order metamagnetic transition is a result of the competition between Kondo screening, that tries to quench the local moments, and Zeeman coupling, which induces polarization and hence promotes local moment formation. A comparison of our theoretical results with experiments on $^{3}He$ indicate that, a theory of $^{3}He$ based on the half-filled Hubbard model places it in a regime of intermediate interaction strength., Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures

Conjugated based polymer semiconductors have been explored extensively in optoelectronic applications as they offer tremendous advantages in processimg and fabricating procedures. An exciting aspect in optoelectronic devices is the lateral photovoltaic effect. Lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) as an effective tool has been used to probe the photogenerated charge carrier dynamics in optoelectronic devices [1–3]. Whereas a great deal of attention has been paid to conventional inorganic semiconductors, LPE as a tool to investigate the charge dynamics using LPE in organic semiconductors is still not well established. We present here a discrete circuit model with spreading impedance approach for investigation of charge carrier dynamics in polymeric photovoltaic devices covering temperature dependence, frequency response, wavelength dependence and transient response of the devices. We have employed our model on a position sensing device. In earlier work from our group[4, 5] this model has been found in good agreement with the experimental results within the consideration of steady state nature of the charge carriers. Now we have extended our model by incorporating the transient nature of the charge flow produced by majority charge carriers generated in the illuminated region considering gaussian distribuation for intensity of laser beam in the illuminated region unlike the previous model where it was asssumed to be uniform.

We explore the Matsubara quasiparticle fraction and the pseudogap of the two-dimensional Hubbard model with the dynamical cluster quantum Monte Carlo method. The character of the quasiparticle fraction changes from non-Fermi-liquid, to marginal Fermi liquid, to Fermi liquid as a function of doping, indicating the presence of a quantum critical point separating non-Fermi-liquid from Fermi-liquid character. Marginal Fermi-liquid character is found at low temperatures at a very narrow range of doping where the single-particle density of states is also symmetric. At higher doping the character of the quasiparticle fraction is seen to cross over from Fermi liquid to marginal Fermi liquid as the temperature increases.

Magnetic field effects in Kondo insulators are studied theoretically, using a local moment approach to the periodic Anderson model within the framework of dynamical mean-field theory. Our main focus is on field-induced changes in single-particle dynamics and the associated hybridization gap in the density of states. Particular emphasis is given to the strongly correlated regime, where dynamics are found to exhibit universal scaling in terms of a field-dependent low energy coherence scale. Although the bare applied field is globally uniform, the effective fields experienced by the conduction electrons and the $f$-electrons differ because of correlation effects. A continuous insulator-metal transition is found to occur on increasing the applied field, closure of the hybridization gap reflecting competition between Zeeman splitting and screening of the $f$-electron local moments. For intermediate interaction strengths the hybridization gap depends non-linearly on the applied field, while in strong coupling its field dependence is found to be linear. For the classic Kondo insulator YbB$_{12}$, good agreement is found upon direct comparison of the field evolution of the experimental transport gap with the theoretical hybridization gap in the density of states., 8 pages, 8 figures

We study theoretically the class of mixed-valent Kondo insulators, employing a recently developed local moment approach to heavy Fermion systems using the asymmetric periodic Anderson model (PAM). Novel features in spectra and transport, observable experimentally but lying outside the scope of the symmetric PAM or the Kondo lattice model, emerge naturally within the present theory. We argue in particular that a shoulder-like feature in the optical conductivity, that is distinct from the usual mid-infrared or direct gap peak and has been observed experimentally in mixed-valent compounds such as CeOs4Sb12 and YbAl3, is of intrinsic origin. Detailed comparison is made between the resultant theory and transport/optical experiments on the filled-skutterudite compound CeOs4Sb12, and good agreement is obtained., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures

Most of the rare-earth Nickelates (RNiO3; R= Nd, Pr, Sm etc.) exhibit a sharp metal- insulator transition, from a high temperature paramagnetic metal to a low temperature antiferromagnetic insulator. LaNiO3, the first member of the series, is the only exception in the RNiO3 family, which remains metallic down to low temperatures. Using local density approximation as an input to dynamical mean-field theory, we study the transport properties of both LaNiO3 and NdNiO3, and show that LaNiO3 remains a correlated Fermi liquid with an effective mass enhancement as the correlation increases upto the bandwidth. We also suggest the possibility of pressure and strain-driven metal-insulator transition in both the Nickelate compounds.

In this paper, we investigate the disordered attractive Hubbard model by combining dynamical mean field theory, coherent potential approximation and iterated perturbation theory for superconductivity as an impurity solver. Disorder is introduced in the local attraction $U$. We assume that $U$ is distributed according to a bimodal probability distribution, wherein an $x$ fraction of sites are pairing centers ($U\neq0$) and $(1-x)$ fraction of sites are non-interacting ($U=0$). It is found that beyond a critical $x=x_c$, a first order metal-superconductor phase transition leads to superconductivity being induced in the interacting as well as non-interacting., 5 pages, 12 figures

The paramagnetic phase of heavy fermion systems is investigated, using a non-perturbative local moment approach to the asymmetric periodic Anderson model within the framework of dynamical mean field theory. The natural focus is on the strong coupling Kondo-lattice regime wherein single-particle spectra, scattering rates, dc transport and optics are found to exhibit w/w_L,T/w_L scaling in terms of a single underlying low-energy coherence scale w_L. Dynamics/transport on all relevant (w,T)-scales are encompassed, from the low-energy behaviour characteristic of the lattice coherent Fermi liquid, through incoherent effective single-impurity physics likewise found to arise in the universal scaling regime, to non-universal high-energy scales; and which description in turn enables viable quantitative comparison to experiment., Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures

Employing a local moment approach to the periodic Anderson model within the framework of dynamical mean-field theory, direct comparison is made between theory and experiment for the dc transport and optical conductivities of paramagnetic heavy fermion and intermediate valence metals. Four materials, exhibiting a diverse range of behaviour in their transport/optics, are analysed in detail: CeB6, YbAl3, CeAl3 and CeCoIn5. Good agreement between theory and experiment is in general found, even quantitatively, and a mutually consistent picture of transport and optics results., 21 pages, 10 figures; Replacement with minor style changes made to avoid postscript file errors

The periodic Anderson model (PAM) captures the essential physics of heavy fermion materials. Yet even for the paramagnetic metallic phase, a practicable many-body theory that can simultaneously handle all energy scales while respecting the dictates of Fermi liquid theory at low energies, and all interaction strengths from the strongly correlated Kondo lattice through to weak coupling, has remained quite elusive. Aspects of this problem are considered in the present paper where a non-perturbative local moment approach (LMA) to single-particle dynamics of the asymmetric PAM is developed within the general framework of dynamical mean-field theory. All interaction strengths and energy scales are encompassed, although our natural focus is the Kondo lattice regime of essentially localized $f$-spins but general conduction band filling, characterised by an exponentially small lattice coherence scale $\omega_{L}$. Particular emphasis is given to the resultant universal scaling behaviour of dynamics in the Kondo lattice regime as an entire function of $\omega^{\prime} =\omega/\omega_{L}$, including its dependence on conduction band filling, $f$-level asymmetry and lattice type.A rich description arises, encompassing both coherent Fermi liquid behaviour at low-$\omega^{\prime}$ and the crossover to effective single-impurity scaling physics at higher energies -- but still in the $\omega/\omega_{L}$-scaling regime, and as such incompatible with the presence of two-scale `exhaustion' physics, which is likewise discussed., Comment: 22 pages in EPJB format, 14 figures; accepted for publication in EPJB; (small change in the comments section, no change in manuscript)

A many-body theory of paramagnetic Kondo insulators is described, focusing specifically on single-particle dynamics, scattering rates, d.c. transport and optical conductivities. This is achieved by development of a non-perturbative local moment approach to the symmetric periodic Anderson model within the framework of dynamical mean-field theory. Our natural focus is the strong coupling, Kondo lattice regime; in particular the resultant `universal' scaling behaviour in terms of the single, exponentially small low-energy scale characteristic of the problem. Dynamics/transport on all relevant ($\omega, T$) scales are considered, from the gapped/activated behaviour characteristic of the low-temperature insulator through to explicit connection to single-impurity physics at high $\omega$ and/or $T$; and for optical conductivities emphasis is given to the nature of the optical gap, the temperature scale responsible for its destruction, and the consequent clear distinction between indirect and direct gap scales. Using scaling, explicit comparison is also made to experimental results for d.c. transport and optical conductivites of Ce_3Bi_4Pt_3, SmB_6 and YbB_{12}. Good agreement is found, even quantitatively; and a mutually consistent picture of transport and optics results., Comment: 49 pages, 23 figures

We investigate the effect of site-disorder on the superconducting (SC) state in the attractive Hubbard model within the framework of dynamical mean field theory. For a fixed interaction strength ($U$), the SC order parameter (OP) decreases monotonically with increasing disorder ($x$), while the single-particle spectral gap (SG) decreases for small $x$, reaches a minimum and keeps increasing for larger $x$. Thus, the system remains gapped beyond the destruction of the superconducting state, indicating a disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition. We investigate this transition in depth considering the effects of weak and strong disorder for a range of interaction strengths. In the clean case, the order-parameter is known to increase monotonically with increasing interaction, saturating at a finite value asymptotically for $U\rightarrow \infty$. The presence of disorder results in destruction of superconductivity at large $U$, thus drastically modifying the clean case behaviour. A physical understanding of our findings is obtained by invoking particle-hole asymmetry and the probability distributions of the order parameter and spectral gap., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures

We discuss the "exhaustion" problem in the context of the Periodic Anderson Model using Iterated Perturbation Theory(IPT) within the Dynamical Mean Field Theory. We find that, despite its limitations, IPT captures the exhaustion physics, which manifests itself as a dramatic, strongly energy dependent suppression of the effective Anderson impurity problem. As a consequence, low energy scales in the lattice case are strongly suppressed compared to the "Kondo scale" in the single-impurity picture. The IPT results are in qualitative agreement with recent Quantum Monte Carlo results for the same problem., Comment: 13 preprint pages including 1 table and 4 eps figures, replaced by revised version, accepted for publication in Europhysics Letters, added references and content

We report measurements of temperature- and length-dependent 1/f noise in vertical single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) arrays. Carbon nanotubes are synthesized in a porous anodic alumina template with sub-micrometer channel lengths ranging from 100 to 700 nm. A significant difference is observed in the 1/f noise magnitude of quasi-ballistic and diffusive SWCNT devices, with quasi-ballistic devices exhibiting 1/f noise levels that are one to two orders of magnitude less than diffusively conducting devices. Furthermore, 1/f noise was measured from 90 to 400 K, and the noise prefactor decreased significantly at temperatures below 250 K.

In this work, we have analysed the exact closed-form solutions for transport quantities through a mesoscopic region which may be characterised by a polynomial functional of resonant transmission functions. These are then utilized to develop considerably improved protocols for parameters relevant for quantum transport through molecular junctions and quantum dots. The protocols are shown to be experimentally feasible and should yield the parameters at much higher resolution than the previously proposed ones.

We report electrical noise measurements from illuminated bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer based solar cells (PSC). These noise-studies of BHJ-PSCs provide considerable insight into the underlying charge transport processes. The power spectrum reveals a flicker noise of the form 1/fα at low frequencies (f 5 kHz. Photocurrent fluctuations were analyzed at different temperature, light intensity, and device conditions. A theoretical description employing kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations points to the importance of trap distribution and kinetics in the understanding of fluctuations in the low f regime.