Stabilization of Fermi-liquid behavior by interactions in disordered metals

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron-electron interactions can stabilize Fermi-liquid behavior in disordered metals, revealing violations of Matthiessen's rule and explaining experimental resistivity phenomena in correlated materials.

Contribution

It demonstrates that interactions screen disorder, protecting electron-electron scattering rates and leading to unexpected enhancements at high disorder levels, using dynamical mean-field theory.

Findings

Violations of Matthiessen's rule explained by screening effects

Disorder can enhance electron-electron scattering

Results align with resistivity data in organic metals and oxides

Abstract

We study the interplay of electron-electron and electron-disorder scattering in correlated Fermi liquids by the disordered Hubbard model using dynamical mean-field theory with an IPT-CPA solver. We find significant violations of Matthiessen's rule (additivity of scattering mechanisms) which we explain in terms of the screening of the disorder potential by interactions, leading to a protection of the electron-electron inelastic scattering rate against disorder. We also show that large disorder can lead to a surprising enhancement of the electron-electron scattering that contrasts with the competition seen in the elastic channel. Our results compare positively with available resistivity data in the disordered Fermi liquid phase of the correlated organic metals $\kappa$-(ET)$_{2}$X, and rationalize the strong sample dependence of the $T^2$ coefficients observed in the resistivity of correlated perovskite oxides such as SrVO$_3$.