Interchain-Frustration-Induced Metallic State in Quasi-One-Dimensional Mott Insulators

The mechanism that drives a metal-insulator transition in an undoped quasi-one-dimensional Mott insulator is examined in the framework of the Hubbard model with two different hoppings t_{perp 1} and t_{perp 2} between nearest-neighbor chains. By applying an N_{perp}-chain renormalization group method at the two-loop level, we show how a metallic state emerges when both t_{perp 1} and t_{perp 2} exceed critical values. In the metallic phase, the quasiparticle weight becomes finite and develops a strong momentum dependence. We discuss the temperature dependence of the resistivity and the impact of our theory in the understanding of recent experiments on half-filled molecular conductors.