Critical Fluctuations and Conserved Dynamics in a Strange Ferromagnetic Metal
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The origin of the strange metallic behavior observed in a wide range of quantum materials is an open challenge to condensed matter physics. Historically, strange metals were uniquely associated with antiferromagnetic quantum critical points (QCPs), but a new generation of materials reveals their association with uniform order parameters, such as ferromagnetism, valley, or nematic order, suggesting a deeper common denominator. At a QCP, order parameter fluctuations are characterized by the dynamical critical exponent z, which quantifies the space-time scaling asymmetry. Here, we report the observation of a divergence in the Grüneisen ratio at the QCP of the strange-metal ferromagnet CeRh_{6}Ge_{4} with a dynamical critical exponent z=3, signaling that the underlying quantum singularity involves a conserved degree of freedom. Yet the magnetization of this easy-plane ferromagnet is not conserved. We argue that the z=3 strange criticality requires a description beyond the Landau paradigm, proposing a link with the gauge modes of the small-to-large Fermi surface transition and the associated gauge charge of the delocalizing heavy electrons.
Source: Physical Review Letters
DOI: 10.1103/bp6l-46z7
Authors: Jin Zhan, Yongjun Zhang, Jiawen Zhang, Yu Liu, Zhiyong Nie, Yuxin Chen, Lin Jiao, Yashar Komijani, Michael Smidman, Frank Steglich, Piers Coleman, Huiqiu Yuan
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,750
OpenAlex ID: W4417211734