Is the Mott transition relevant to f-electron metals ?

TL;DR

This paper investigates how hybridization influences the Mott transition in f-electron metals, revealing that hybridization suppresses the transition at zero temperature but a first-order transition persists at finite temperatures, with implications for experimental materials.

Contribution

It demonstrates that hybridization acts as a relevant perturbation to the Mott transition, altering its nature and critical behavior in f-electron systems.

Findings

Hybridization suppresses the Mott transition at zero temperature.

A first-order transition persists at finite temperature between local moment and Kondo-screened phases.

The transition line ends at two critical endpoints, affecting experimental interpretations.

Abstract

We study how a finite hybridization between a narrow correlated band and a wide conduction band affects the Mott transition. At zero temperature, the hybridization is found to be a relevant perturbation, so that the Mott transition is suppressed by Kondo screening. In contrast, a first-order transition remains at finite temperature, separating a local moment phase and a Kondo- screened phase. The first-order transition line terminates in two critical endpoints. Implications for experiments on f-electron materials such as the Cerium alloy Ce$_{0.8}$La$_{0.1}$Th$_{0.1}$ are discussed.