Thermodynamic constraints on the amplitude of quantum oscillations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how thermodynamic constraints and quantum fluctuations influence the amplitude of quantum oscillations in high-temperature superconductors, highlighting limitations of traditional theories and proposing solutions.

Contribution

It reveals contradictions in existing theories beyond Lifshitz-Kosevich and offers a thermodynamically consistent approach to understanding quantum oscillation suppression.

Findings

Thermodynamic constraints challenge traditional oscillation models.

Quantum fluctuations increase near critical doping, suppressing oscillations.

Proposed rectification aligns theory with the third law of thermodynamics.

Abstract

Magneto-quantum oscillation experiments in high temperature superconductors show a strong thermally-induced suppression of the oscillation amplitude approaching critical dopings---in support of a quantum critical origin of their phase diagrams. We suggest that, in addition to a thermodynamic mass enhancement, these experiments may directly indicate the increasing role of quantum fluctuations that suppress the oscillation amplitude through inelastic scattering. We show that the traditional theoretical approaches beyond Lifshitz-Kosevich to calculate the oscillation amplitude in correlated metals result in a contradiction with the third law of thermodynamics and suggest a way to rectify this problem.