
arXiv: 0804.1808
We study the Kondo-Heisenberg model using a fermionic representation for the localized spins. The mean-field phase diagram exhibits a zero temperature quantum critical point separating a spin liquid phase where the f-conduction hybridization vanishes, and a Kondo phase where it does not. Two solutions can be stabilized in the Kondo phase, namely a uniform hybridization when the band masses of the conduction electrons and the f spinons have the same sign, and a modulated one when they have opposite sign. For the uniform case, we show that above a very small Fermi liquid temperature scale (~1 mK), the critical fluctuations associated with the vanishing hybridization have dynamical exponent z=3, giving rise to a specific heat coefficient that diverges logarithmically in temperature, as well as a conduction electron inverse lifetime that has a T log T behavior. Because the f spinons do not carry current, but act as an effective bath for the relaxation of the current carried by the conduction electrons, the latter result also gives rise to a T log T behavior in the resistivity. This behavior is consistent with observations in a number of heavy fermion metals.
17 pages, 10 figures
Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons, Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), FOS: Physical sciences
Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons, Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), FOS: Physical sciences
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