Correlation effects on the doped triangular lattice in view of the physics of sodium-rich Na_xCoO₂

The peculiar correlation effects on the triangular lattice are studied by means of the rotationally invariant slave boson method in a cellular cluster approach. Hence nonlocal correlations are included in a short-range regime. Their impact for the single-band Hubbard model is studied at half filling, i.e., on the Mott transition, and with doping. Using the realistic band structure of Na$_x$CoO$_2$, we may also shed light on the cobaltate physics for $x$$\ge$1/3, with the in-plane transition from antiferromagnetic tendencies towards the onset of ferromagnetism for a finite Hubbard $U$.