Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: A multichannel Kondo model, where two or more equivalent but independent channels of electrons compete to screen a spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ impurity, shows overcompensation of the impurity spin, leading to the non-Fermi-liquid behavior in various thermodynamic and transport properties. However, when the channel symmetry is broken, an impurity quantum phase transition can occur at zero temperature. Identification of an order parameter describing the impurity quantum phase transition is very difficult since it is beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson theory. By employing the natural orbitals renormalization group method, we study both two-channel and three-channel Kondo models, from the perspective of spin correlation between the impurity and electrons in electronic channels. Here we demonstrate that by introducing the spin-correlation ratio as an order parameter we can characterize impurity quantum phase transitions driven by channel asymmetry. In particular, the universal critical exponents $\ensuremath{\beta}$ of the spin-correlation ratio and $\ensuremath{\nu}$ of the correlation length are explicitly determined by finite-size-scaling analysis, namely, $\ensuremath{\beta}=0.10(1)$ and $\ensuremath{\nu}=2.0(1)$, and $\ensuremath{\beta}=0.10(1)$ and $\ensuremath{\nu}=2.5(1)$ for the two-channel and three-channel Kondo models, respectively.
Authors: Ru Zheng, Rong-Qiang He, Zhong-Yi Lu
Institution: Renmin University of China
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G3452410484, G6014283106, G6576645759
OpenAlex ID: W3118306798