The alpha to gamma transition in Ce: a theoretical view from optical spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper uses a new theoretical approach to analyze optical spectroscopy data, revealing that the Kondo collapse model better explains the alpha to gamma transition in cerium than the Mott transition, and predicts a pseudogap development.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for calculating optical properties of strongly correlated systems and demonstrates its effectiveness in explaining cerium's phase transition.

Findings

Kondo collapse model fits optical data better than Mott transition

Predicts a pseudogap around 0.6 eV near the phase transition

Results align well with thin-film experimental data

Abstract

Using a novel approach to calculate optical properties of strongly correlated systems, we address the old question of the physical origin of the alpha to gamma transition in Ce. We find that the Kondo collapse model describes the optical data better than the Mott transition picture. Our results compare well with existing thin--film experiments. We predict the full temperature dependence of the optical spectra and find the development of a pseudogap around 0.6 eV in the vicinity of the alpha to gamma phase transition.