A quantum critical point arises when matter undergoes a continuous transition from one phase to another at zero temperature. A nonthermal control parameter, such as pressure, doping, or external magnetic field tunes the system to phases with different thermodynamic and transport properties. Most puzzling phenomena are found when quantum critical phenomena are examined in strongly correlated metals, such as heavy fermion compounds and oxides close to the Mott transition. The electrons in these materials are found somewhere mid-way between the itinerant and the fully Mott-localized limit. Strong electron-electron scattering leads to the incoherent excitations which play only a secondary role in Fermi liquids, but now assume a center stage. The main objective of the proposed research is to provide a significant new perspective on the quantum criticality around the Mott transition, and a deeper understanding of an apparent universality in the high temperature crossover regime. The work will be done within a framework of the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) and its extensions.


MES project leader: Darko Tanaskovic, Scientific Computing Laboratory, Institute of Physics Belgrade

CNRS project leader: Marcelo Rozenberg, Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Orsay