Superconductivity and non-Fermi liquid behavior near a nematic quantum critical point

Abstract

Using determinantal quantum Monte Carlo, we compute the properties of a lattice model with spin 12 itinerant electrons tuned through a quantum phase transition to an Ising nematic phase. The nematic fluctuations induce superconductivity with a broad dome in the superconducting Tc enclosing the nematic quantum critical point. For temperatures above Tc, we see strikingly non-Fermi liquid behavior, including a “nodal–antinodal dichotomy” reminiscent of that seen in several transition metal oxides. In addition, the critical fluctuations have a strong effect on the low-frequency optical conductivity, resulting in behavior consistent with “bad metal” phenomenology.