Time-resolved collapse and revival of the Kondo state near a quantum phase transition
Abstract
One of the most successful paradigms of many-body physics is the concept of quasiparticles: excitations in strongly interacting matter behaving like weakly interacting particles in free space. Quasiparticles in metals are very robust objects. Yet, when a system's ground state undergoes a qualitative change at a quantum critical point (QCP), the quasiparticles may disintegrate and give way to an exotic quantum-fluid state of matter. The nature of this breakdown is intensely debated, because the emergent quantum fluid dominates the material properties up to high temperature and might even be related to the occurence of superconductivity in some compounds. Here we trace the dynamics of heavy-fermion quasiparticles in CeCuAu and monitor their evolution towards the QCP in time-resolved experiments, supported by many-body calculations. A terahertz pulse disrupts the many-body heavy-fermion state. Under emission of a delayed, phase-coherent terahertz reflex the heavy-fermion state recovers, with a coherence time 100 times longer than typically associated with correlated metals. The quasiparticle weight collapses towards the QCP, yet its formation temperature remains constant -- phenomena believed to be mutually exclusive. Coexistence in the same experiment calls for revisions in our view on quantum criticality.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1703.04443,
title = {Time-resolved collapse and revival of the Kondo state near a quantum phase transition},
author = {Ch. Wetli and S. Pal and J. Kroha and K. Kliemt and C. Krellner and O. Stockert and H. von Loehneysen and M. Fiebig},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1703.04443},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
Published version, including data on CeCu6, CeCu5.9Au0.1, and CeCu5Au1 and extended Supplementary Information. 7 pages, 4 figures, Supplementary Information: 5 pages, 3 figures