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Pomeranchuk Instability
The Pomeranchuk instability is an instability in the shape of the Fermi surface of a material with interacting fermions, causing Landau’s Fermi liquid theory to break down. It occurs when a Landau parameter in Fermi liquid theory has a sufficiently negative value, causing deformations of the Fermi surface to be energetically favourable. It is named after the Soviet physicist Isaak Pomeranchuk. Introduction: Landau parameter for a Fermi liquid In a Fermi liquid, renormalized single electron propagators (ignoring spin) are G(K)=\frac\text where capital momentum letters denote four-vectors K=(k_0,\vec) and the Fermi surface has zero energy; poles of this function determine the quasiparticle energy-momentum dispersion relation. The four-point vertex function \Gamma_ describes the diagram with two incoming electrons of momentum K_1 and two outgoing electrons of momentum K_3 and and amputated external lines:\begin \Gamma_&=\int \\ &=(2\pi)^8 \delta(K_1-K_3)\delta(K_2-K_4) G(K_1) G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermi Surface
In condensed matter physics, the Fermi surface is the surface in reciprocal space which separates occupied from unoccupied electron states at zero temperature. The shape of the Fermi surface is derived from the periodicity and symmetry of the crystalline lattice and from the occupation of electronic energy bands. The existence of a Fermi surface is a direct consequence of the Pauli exclusion principle, which allows a maximum of one electron per quantum state. The study of the Fermi surfaces of materials is called fermiology. Theory Consider a spin-less ideal Fermi gas of N particles. According to Fermi–Dirac statistics, the mean occupation number of a state with energy \epsilon_i is given by :\langle n_i\rangle =\frac, where, *\left\langle n_i\right\rangle is the mean occupation number of the i^ state *\epsilon_i is the kinetic energy of the i^ state *\mu is the chemical potential (at zero temperature, this is the maximum kinetic energy the particle can have, i.e. Fermi ener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spherical Harmonics
In mathematics and physical science, spherical harmonics are special functions defined on the surface of a sphere. They are often employed in solving partial differential equations in many scientific fields. Since the spherical harmonics form a complete set of orthogonal functions and thus an orthonormal basis, each function defined on the surface of a sphere can be written as a sum of these spherical harmonics. This is similar to periodic functions defined on a circle that can be expressed as a sum of circular functions (sines and cosines) via Fourier series. Like the sines and cosines in Fourier series, the spherical harmonics may be organized by (spatial) angular frequency, as seen in the rows of functions in the illustration on the right. Further, spherical harmonics are basis functions for irreducible representations of SO(3), the group of rotations in three dimensions, and thus play a central role in the group theoretic discussion of SO(3). Spherical harmonics or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kohn Anomaly
In the field of physics concerning condensed matter, a Kohn anomaly (also called the Kohn effect) is an anomaly in the dispersion relation of a phonon branch in a metal. It is named for Walter Kohn. For a specific wavevector, the frequency (and thus the energy) of the associated phonon is considerably lowered, and there is a discontinuity in its derivative. They have been first proposed by Walter Kohn in 1959. In extreme cases (that can happen in low-dimensional materials), the energy of this phonon is zero, meaning that a static distortion of the lattice appears. This is one explanation for charge density waves in solids. The wavevectors at which a Kohn anomaly is possible are the nesting vectors of the Fermi surface, that is vectors that connect a lot of points of the Fermi surface (for a one-dimensional chain of atoms this vector would be 2k_). The electron phonon interaction causes a rigid shift of the Fermi sphere and a failure of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation since th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide
Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) is a family of crystalline chemical compounds that display high-temperature superconductivity; it includes the first material ever discovered to become superconducting above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K) at about 93 K. Many YBCO compounds have the general formula Y Ba2 Cu3 O7−''x'' (also known as Y123), although materials with other Y:Ba:Cu ratios exist, such as Y Ba2 Cu4 Oy (Y124) or Y2 Ba4 Cu7 Oy (Y247). At present, there is no singularly recognised theory for high-temperature superconductivity. It is part of the more general group of rare-earth barium copper oxides (ReBCO) in which, instead of yttrium, other rare earths are present. History In April 1986, Georg Bednorz and Karl Müller, working at IBM in Zurich, discovered that certain semiconducting oxides became superconducting at relatively high temperature, in particular, a lanthanum barium copper oxide becomes superconducting at 35 K. This oxide was an oxyg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuprate Superconductor
Cuprate superconductors are a family of high-temperature superconducting materials made of layers of copper oxides (CuO2) alternating with layers of other metal oxides, which act as charge reservoirs. At ambient pressure, cuprate superconductors are the highest temperature superconductors known. However, the mechanism by which superconductivity occurs is still not understood. History The first cuprate superconductor was found in 1986 in the non-stoichiometric cuprate lanthanum barium copper oxide by IBM researchers Georg Bednorz and Karl Alex Müller. The critical temperature for this material was 35K, well above the previous record of 23 K. The discovery led to a sharp increase in research on the cuprates, resulting in thousands of publications between 1986 and 2001. Bednorz and Müller were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987, only a year after their discovery. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renormalization Group
In theoretical physics, the term renormalization group (RG) refers to a formal apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different scales. In particle physics, it reflects the changes in the underlying force laws (codified in a quantum field theory) as the energy scale at which physical processes occur varies, energy/momentum and resolution distance scales being effectively conjugate under the uncertainty principle. A change in scale is called a scale transformation. The renormalization group is intimately related to ''scale invariance'' and ''conformal invariance'', symmetries in which a system appears the same at all scales (so-called self-similarity). As the scale varies, it is as if one is changing the magnifying power of a notional microscope viewing the system. In so-called renormalizable theories, the system at one scale will generally be seen to consist of self-similar copies of itself when viewed at a small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldstone Boson
In particle and condensed matter physics, Goldstone bosons or Nambu–Goldstone bosons (NGBs) are bosons that appear necessarily in models exhibiting spontaneous breakdown of continuous symmetries. They were discovered by Yoichiro Nambu in particle physics within the context of the BCS superconductivity mechanism, and subsequently elucidated by Jeffrey Goldstone, and systematically generalized in the context of quantum field theory. In condensed matter physics such bosons are quasiparticles and are known as Anderson–Bogoliubov modes. These spinless bosons correspond to the spontaneously broken internal symmetry generators, and are characterized by the quantum numbers of these. They transform nonlinearly (shift) under the action of these generators, and can thus be excited out of the asymmetric vacuum by these generators. Thus, they can be thought of as the excitations of the field in the broken symmetry directions in group space—and are massless if the spontaneously b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vacuum Expectation Value
In quantum field theory the vacuum expectation value (also called condensate or simply VEV) of an operator is its average or expectation value in the vacuum. The vacuum expectation value of an operator O is usually denoted by \langle O\rangle. One of the most widely used examples of an observable physical effect that results from the vacuum expectation value of an operator is the Casimir effect. This concept is important for working with correlation functions in quantum field theory. It is also important in spontaneous symmetry breaking. Examples are: *The Higgs field has a vacuum expectation value of 246 GeV. This nonzero value underlies the Higgs mechanism of the Standard Model. This value is given by v = 1/\sqrt = 2M_W/g \approx 246.22\, \rm, where ''MW'' is the mass of the W Boson, G_F^0 the reduced Fermi constant, and the weak isospin coupling, in natural units. It is also near the limit of the most massive nuclei, at v = 264.3 Da. *The chiral condensate in qua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imaginary Number
An imaginary number is a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit , is usually used in engineering contexts where has other meanings (such as electrical current) which is defined by its property . The square of an imaginary number is . For example, is an imaginary number, and its square is . By definition, zero is considered to be both real and imaginary. Originally coined in the 17th century by René Descartes as a derogatory term and regarded as fictitious or useless, the concept gained wide acceptance following the work of Leonhard Euler (in the 18th century) and Augustin-Louis Cauchy and Carl Friedrich Gauss (in the early 19th century). An imaginary number can be added to a real number to form a complex number of the form , where the real numbers and are called, respectively, the ''real part'' and the ''imaginary part'' of the complex number. History Although the Greek mathematician and engineer Hero of Alexandria is noted as the first to present a calculati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Implicit Equation
In mathematics, an implicit equation is a relation of the form R(x_1, \dots, x_n) = 0, where is a function of several variables (often a polynomial). For example, the implicit equation of the unit circle is x^2 + y^2 - 1 = 0. An implicit function is a function that is defined by an implicit equation, that relates one of the variables, considered as the value of the function, with the others considered as the arguments. For example, the equation x^2 + y^2 - 1 = 0 of the unit circle defines as an implicit function of if , and is restricted to nonnegative values. The implicit function theorem provides conditions under which some kinds of implicit equations define implicit functions, namely those that are obtained by equating to zero multivariable functions that are continuously differentiable. Examples Inverse functions A common type of implicit function is an inverse function. Not all functions have a unique inverse function. If is a function of that has a unique inver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zero Sound
Zero sound is the name given by Lev Landau in 1957 to the unique quantum vibrations in quantum Fermi liquids. The zero sound can no longer be thought of as a simple wave of compression and rarefaction, but rather a fluctuation in space and time of the quasiparticles' momentum distribution function. As the shape of Fermi distribution function changes slightly (or largely), zero sound propagates in the direction for the head of Fermi surface with no change of the density of the liquid. Predictions and subsequent experimental observations of zero sound was one of the key confirmation on the correctness of Landau's Fermi liquid theory. Derivation from Boltzmann transport equation The Boltzmann transport equation for general systems in the semiclassical limit gives, for a Fermi liquid, :\frac+\frac\cdot\frac-\frac\cdot \frac = \text , where f(\vec, \vec, t) = f_0(\vec) + \delta f(\vec, \vec, t) is the density of quasiparticles (here we ignore spin) with momentum \vec and position \ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Effective Mass (solid-state Physics)
In solid state physics, a particle's effective mass (often denoted m^*) is the mass that it ''seems'' to have when responding to forces, or the mass that it seems to have when interacting with other identical particles in a thermal distribution. One of the results from the band theory of solids is that the movement of particles in a periodic potential, over long distances larger than the lattice spacing, can be very different from their motion in a vacuum. The effective mass is a quantity that is used to simplify band structures by modeling the behavior of a free particle with that mass. For some purposes and some materials, the effective mass can be considered to be a simple constant of a material. In general, however, the value of effective mass depends on the purpose for which it is used, and can vary depending on a number of factors. For electrons or electron holes in a solid, the effective mass is usually stated as a factor multiplying the rest mass of an electron, ''m'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
