Dark Fermions in Fluctuating Valence Insulators

TL;DR

This paper develops a systematic theory for fluctuating-valence insulators, revealing fractionalized fermionic excitations with unique electromagnetic and magnetic properties, and connects these findings to recent experimental discoveries.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical framework for fluctuating-valence insulators, highlighting fractionalized excitations and their observable signatures, extending understanding beyond traditional Kondo physics.

Findings

Identification of four spin-degenerate fractionalized fermionic excitations.

Dark excitations detectable only through thermodynamic probes.

Magnetic field induces a transition from insulator to metal with a square-root singularity.

Abstract

A fluctuating-valence impurity in a metal is quantum-critical unlike a Kondo impurity which has the properties of a local Fermi-liquid. A systematic theory for the fluctuating-valence lattice is constructed, based on the hybridization and pairing of itinerant d-orbitals with localized f-orbitals both of which are essential parts of the solution of the impurity problem. It also uses the fact that the single-particle excitations at the Fermi-surface in any dimension can be written as orthogonal Majoranas and those with linear departures from the Fermi-surface as linear combination of bare particles and holes with the same spin. The calculations on the lattice give four spin-degenerate one-particle excitations of fractionalized fermions; two sets disperse across the chemical potential and the other two have gaps. The former are shown to be dark to any linear electro-magnetic probes of their charge and spin and observable only through probes of their free-energy such as a Fermi-liquid specific heat and magneto-oscillations characteristic of a Fermi-surface but without a Zeeman splitting. The excitations with the gaps behave as in insulators but with renormalized amplitudes. The superfluid density is zero. A magnetic field $H$ turns the insulator to a metal with a singularity in magnetization proportional to $\sqrt{H - H_c}$, with $H_c$ related to the gap. Beyond $H_c$, the usual Zeeman splitting appears in the magneto-oscillations. The properties and predictions are compared to the momentous recent discoveries in fluctuating-valence insulators. Similar excitations may be expected in transition metal chalcogenide layers at fluctuating-valence, and quite likely for Kagome lattices, and twisted multi-layer graphene near specific fillings.