English

Understanding correlated electron systems by a classification of Mott insulators

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2014-10-13 v2 Superconductivity High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

This article surveys the physics of systems proximate to Mott insulators, and presents a classification using conventional and topological order parameters. This classification offers a valuable perspective on a variety of conducting correlated electron systems, from the cuprate superconductors to the heavy fermion compounds. Connections are drawn, and distinctions made, between collinear/non-collinear magnetic order, bond order, neutral spin 1/2 excitations in insulators, electron Fermi surfaces which violate Luttinger's theorem, fractionalization of the electron, and the fractionalization of bosonic collective modes. Two distinct categories of Z_2 gauge theories are used to describe the interplay of these orders. Experimental implications for the cuprates are briefly noted, but these appear in more detail in a companion review article (S. Sachdev, cond-mat/0211005).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0211027,
  title  = {Understanding correlated electron systems by a classification of Mott insulators},
  author = {Subir Sachdev},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0211027},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

25 pages, 5 figures, review article for theorists, to appear in special issue of Annals of Physics; (v2) updated references