No Arabic abstract
We present results for the electronic structure of alpha uranium using a recently developed quasiparticle self-consistent GW method (QSGW). This is the first time that the f-orbital electron-electron interactions in an actinide has been treated by a first-principles method beyond the level of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to the local density approximation (LDA). We show that the QSGW approximation predicts an f-level shift upwards of about 0.5 eV with respect to the other metallic s-d states and that there is a significant f-band narrowing when compared to LDA band-structure results. Nonetheless, because of the overall low f-electron occupation number in uranium, ground-state properties and the occupied band structure around the Fermi energy is not significantly affected. The correlations predominate in the unoccupied part of the f states. This provides the first formal justification for the success of LDA and GGA calculations in describing the ground-state properties of this material.
The demonstration of superconductivity in nickelate analogues of high $T_c$ cuprates provides new perspectives on the physics of correlated electron materials. The degree to which the nickelate electronic structure is similar to that of cuprates is an important open question. This paper presents results of a comparative study of the many-body electronic structure and theoretical phase diagram of the isostructural materials CaCuO$_2$ and NdNiO$_2$. Important differences include the proximity of the oxygen $2p$ bands to the Fermi level, the bandwidth of the transition metal-derived $3d$ bands, and the presence, in NdNiO$_2$, of both Nd-derived $5d$ states crossing the Fermi level and a van Hove singularity that crosses the Fermi level as the out of plane momentum is varied. The low energy physics of NdNiO$_2$ is found to be that of a single Ni-derived correlated band, with additional accompanying weakly correlated bands of Nd-derived states that dope the Ni-derived band. The effective correlation strength of the Ni-derived $d$-band crossing the Fermi level in NdNiO$_2$ is found to be greater than that of the Cu-derived $d$-band in CaCuO$_2$, but the predicted magnetic transition temperature of NdNiO$_2$ is substantially lower than that of CaCuO$_2$ because of the smaller bandwidth.
Including on-site electronic interactions described by the multi-orbital Hubbard model we study the correlation effects in the electronic structure of bulk palladium. We use a combined density functional and dynamical mean field theory, LDA+DMFT, based on the fluctuation exchange approximation. The agreement between the experimentally determined and the theoretical lattice constant and bulk modulus is improved when correlation effects are included. It is found that correlations modify the Fermi surface around the neck at the $L$-point while the Fermi surface tube structures show little correlation effects. At the same time we discuss the possibility of satellite formation in the high energy binding region. Spectral functions obtained within the LDA+DMFT and $GW$ methods are compared to discuss non-local correlation effects. For relatively weak interaction strength of the local Coulomb and exchange parameters spectra from LDA+DMFT shows no major difference in comparison to $GW$.
We present the self-interaction corrected local spin density (SIC-LSD) electronic structure and total energy calculations, leading also to valencies of the ground state configurations, for the half-metallic double perovskites such as Sr$_{2}$FeMoO$_{6}$, Ba$_{2}$FeMoO$_{6}$, Ca$_{2}$FeMoO$_{6}$, and Ca$_{2}$FeReO$_{6}$. We conclude that the Fe and Mo (or Re) spin magnetic moments are anti-parallel aligned, and the magnitude of the hybridization induced moment on Mo does not vary much between the different compounds. The hybridization spin magnetic moment on Re is of the order of -1.1 $mu_{B}$, while that on Mo is about -0.4 $mu_{B}$, independently of the alkaline earth element. Also the electronic structure of all the compounds studied is very similar, with a well defined gap in the majority spin component and metallic density of states for the minority spin component, with highly hybridized Fe, Mo (or Re), and oxygen bands.
We have measured the electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance, and Hall effect on several new single crystal samples and one polycrystalline sample of alpha-uranium. The residual resistivity ratios of these samples vary from 13 to 315. Matthiessens law appears to hold above the onset of the charge density wave phase transitions that begin near 43 K, but not below this temperature. Sharp features at all three charge density wave transitions are observed and the effects of high magnetic fields on them are presented and discussed. The magnetoresistance is anisotropic, reaches 1000% at 2 K and 18 T, and does not exhibit Kohler scaling. The Hall coefficient is positive, independent of magnetic field, and slightly temperature dependent above about 40 K in agreement with earlier studies. Below 40 K the Hall coefficient changes sign as the temperature falls, varies with field, and becomes much more strongly negative at the lowest temperatures than has been reported. Some of our results suggest that a spin density wave may coexist with the charge density wave states. Superconductivity is observed in two of our samples, we argue that it is intrinsic to alpha-uranium and suggest that it is consistent with a two-band model. Several parameters characterizing the transport and superconductivity of alpha-uranium are estimated.
High-energy-resolution core-level and valence-band photoelectron spectroscopic studies were performed for the heavy Fermion uranium compounds UGe2, UCoGe, URhGe, URu2Si2, UNi2Al3, UPd2Al3, and UPt3 as well as typical localized and itinerant uranium compounds to understand the relationship between the uranium valence state and their core-level spectral line shapes. In addition to the main line and high-binding energy satellite structure recognized in the core-level spectra of uranium compounds, a shoulder structure on the lower binding energy side of the main lines of localized and nearly localized uranium compounds was also found. The spectral line shapes show a systematic variation depending on the U 5f electronic structure. The core-level spectra of UGe2, UCoGe, URhGe, URu2Si2, and UNi2Al3 are rather similar to those of itinerant compounds, suggesting that U 5f electrons in these compounds are well hybridized with ligand states. On the other hand, the core-level spectra of UPd2Al3 and UPt3 show considerably different spectral line shapes from those of the itinerant compounds, suggesting that U 5f electrons in UPd2Al3 and UPt3 are less hybridized with ligand states, leading to the correlated nature of U 5f electrons in these compounds. The dominant final state characters in their core-level spectra suggest that the numbers of 5f electrons in UGe2, UCoGe, URhGe, URu2Si2, UNi2Al3, and UPd2Al3 are close to but less than three, while that of UPt3 is close to two rather than to three.