Emergent Properties of the Periodic Anderson Model: a High-Resolution, Real-Frequency Study of Heavy-Fermion Quantum Criticality

Abstract: We study paramagnetic quantum criticality in the periodic Anderson model (PAM) using cellular dynamical mean-field theory, with the numerical renormalization group (NRG) as an impurity solver. The PAM describes an itinerant $c$ band hybridizing with a localized $f$ band. At $T=0$, it exhibits a hybridization tuned Kondo breakdown quantum critical point (KB-QCP) from a Kondo to an RKKY phase. At the KB-QCP, the $f$ band changes character from itinerant to mainly localized, while the $c$ band remains itinerant. We elucidate its nature in detail by performing a high-resolution, real-frequency study of dynamical quantities. NRG allows us to study the quantum critical non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) regime located between $T_{FL}<T_{NFL}$. Surprisingly, self-consistency is essential to stabilize the NFL and the QCP. The Fermi-liquid (FL) scale $T_{FL}$ decreases towards and vanishes at the QCP. At $T=0$, we find the following properties. The $f$ quasiparticle (QP) weight $Z_f$ decreases continuously as the QCP is approached from either side, vanishing only at the QCP. Therefore, $Z_f$ is nonzero in both the Kondo and the RKKY phase; hence, the FL QP comprise $c$ and $f$ electrons in both phases. The Fermi surface (FS) volumes in the two phases differ. Whereas the large-FS Kondo phase has a usual two-band structure, the small-FS RKKY phase has an unexpected three-band structure. We provide a detailed analysis of quasiparticle properties of both the Kondo and the RKKY phase. The FS reconstruction is accompanied by the appearance of a Luttinger surface (LS) on which the $f$ self-energy diverges. The FS and LS volumes are related to the density by a generalized Luttinger sum rule. We interpret the small FS volume and the emergent LS as evidence for $f$-electron fractionalization in the RKKY phase. Our Hall coefficient and specific heat are in good qualitative agreement with experiment.