Microscopic theory of the pseudogap and Peierls transition in quasi-one-dimensional materials

TL;DR

This paper develops a microscopic theory for the Peierls transition in quasi-one-dimensional materials, highlighting how thermal lattice motion induces a pseudogap and alters the Ginzburg-Landau functional near the transition.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic derivation of the Ginzburg-Landau functional accounting for thermal lattice effects, revealing the pseudogap's impact on electronic states and transition coefficients.

Findings

Thermal lattice motion creates a pseudogap at the Fermi level.

Perturbation theory diverges near the transition, invalidating Fermi liquid assumptions.

The Ginzburg-Landau coefficients are significantly modified by lattice dynamics.

Abstract

The problem of deriving from microscopic theory a Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional to describe the Peierls or charge-density-wave transition in quasi-one-dimensional materials is considered. Particular attention is given to how the thermal lattice motion affects the electronic states. Near the transition temperature the thermal lattice motion produces a pseudogap in the density of states at the Fermi level. Perturbation theory diverges and the traditional quasi-particle or Fermi liquid picture breaks down. The pseudogap causes a significant modification of the coefficients in the Ginzburg-Landau functional from their values in the rigid lattice approximation, which neglects the effect of the thermal lattice motion. To appear in Physical Review B.