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Scaling Behavior of Angular Dependent Resistivity in CeCoIn$_5$: Possible Evidence for d-Wave Density Waves

Strongly Correlated Electrons · Submitted 3 Mar 2006 · 33 references

Pith's verdict: The two-scaling ADR data in CeCoIn5 look real, but the d-DW 'consistency' in Fig. 5 is partly imposed by hand, so the theoretical claim needs to be scaled back.

T0 · AI review

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arXiv IDcond-mat/0603092 (version 4)
Pith IDFNNXYCL7, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationB. Dora, C. C. Almasan, H. Xiao, Kazumi Maki, M. B. Maple, T. A. Sayles, T. Hu. "Scaling Behavior of Angular Dependent Resistivity in CeCoIn$_5$: Possible Evidence for d-Wave Density Waves." arXiv:cond-mat/0603092 (2006). https://pith.science/paper/FNNXYCL7
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Referee report
The paper

The paper claims

In-plane resistivity of CeCoIn5 in the non-Fermi-liquid regime shows two angular scaling laws separated by a 60° critical angle, which the paper argues are signatures of d-wave density waves.

The reading

This paper reports that the in-plane resistivity of the layered compound CeCoIn5, measured at temperatures up to 20 K and in fields up to 14 T, obeys two distinct scaling laws in the low-field regime where the normal-state resistivity is linear in temperature and standard Fermi-liquid behavior fails. Below a critical angle of about 60°, the dissipation depends only on the field component perpendicular to the ab-planes; above it, only on the field component parallel to the ab-planes. The crossover angle is set by the material's anisotropy: the two principal field-direction resistivity curves collapse when one axis is rescaled by γ ≈ 1.7, giving θc = tan⁻¹γ ≈ 59.5°. The paper argues that these scalings, together with the field dependence of the resistivity for both principal orientations, are reproduced by a d-wave density-wave model—a density wave whose electronic gap vanishes along line nodes—with Landau-quantized quasiparticles. If the argument holds, the normal state of CeCoIn5 is controlled by d-wave density-wave quasiparticles rather than conventional metal quasiparticles, and the same physics may bear on the pseudogap state of the cuprates.

What carries the argument

The central object is the d-wave density wave (d-DW), a density wave whose gap $\Delta(\mathbf{k})=\Delta\sin(2\phi)$ vanishes on line nodes, making the transition from the normal state a metal-to-metal transition. The load-bearing step is the Landau quantization of its quasiparticle spectrum in a tilted magnetic field, producing the two branches $E_{1n}^{\pm}$ and $E_{2n}^{\pm}$ of Eqs. (4)-(5). The first branch contains the sum $\upsilon|\cos\theta|+\upsilon'\sin\theta$ and controls the $H\cos\theta$ scaling below $\theta_c$; the second branch contains the difference $\upsilon|\cos\theta|-\upsilon'\sin\theta$ and controls the $H\sin\theta$ scaling above $\theta_c$. The conductivity formula of Eq. (6), with the phenomenological $\sigma_n$ of Eq. (7), is what is fitted to the data, and the crossover angle follows from the anisotropy collapse as $\theta_c=\tan^{-1}\gamma$.

Extended reading notes

Core claim

The central claim is that in the low-field region where the resistivity is linear in temperature, the angular dependent resistivity of CeCoIn5 follows the two scaling laws $\rho(H,\theta)=f_1(H\cos\theta)$ for $\theta\le\theta_c$ and $\rho(H,\theta)=f_2(H\sin\theta)$ for $\theta\ge\theta_c$, with $\theta_c\approx 60^\circ$. The authors trace this crossover to the material's anisotropy: the two principal magnetoresistance curves collapse when $f_1(H)=f_2(\gamma^{-1}H)$ with $\gamma=1.7$, which forces $\theta_c=\tan^{-1}\gamma$. A d-wave density-wave model with Landau-quantized quasiparticles in a tilted magnetic field, with energy branches $E_{1n}^{\pm}=\pm\sqrt{2en\upsilon_2 H(\upsilon|\cos\theta|+\upsilon'\sin\theta)}-\mu$ and $E_{2n}^{\pm}=\pm\sqrt{2en\upsilon_2 H(\upsilon|\cos\theta|-\upsilon'\sin\theta)}-\mu$, together with the conductivity formula $\rho^{-1}=\sigma_0+\sum_{i=\pm}\sigma_1(\mathrm{sech}^2 x_{11}^{i}+\mathrm{sech}^2 x_{21}^{i})$ and field-dependent $\sigma_n$, fits the angular data at all measured fields and reproduces both low-field scalings. Fitted parameters are field independent: anisotropy $\gamma\approx1.9$, $\sqrt{\upsilon\upsilon_2}\approx1.3\times10^4$ m/s, $\mu=8.4$ K, and $H_0=20$ T, and the resulting gap ratio $\Delta(0)/E_F\approx0.1$ matches weak-coupling expectations.

Load-bearing premise

The load-bearing premise is that the mathematical description of d-wave density-wave quasiparticles in a magnetic field, together with the chosen conductivity formula, is really what controls the resistivity; if that description is wrong, the model's agreement with the measured scaling could be an artifact of curve fitting.

Editorial extensions

If this is right

  • The normal state of CeCoIn5 in the non-Fermi-liquid regime is governed by d-wave density-wave quasiparticles rather than by conventional Fermi-liquid quasiparticles.
  • The critical angle at which the scaling switches is not an independent parameter; it is fixed by the anisotropy through $\theta_c=\tan^{-1}\gamma$.
  • The same d-DW physics continues to describe the angular dependence at higher fields, even where the two scaling laws no longer hold as exact collapses.
  • The linear-in-$T$ resistivity in the scaling region is attributed to spin fluctuations rather than orbital magnetoresistance, in line with NMR/NQR evidence of antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations.
  • The d-DW interpretation of CeCoIn5's pseudogap may transfer to the cuprate pseudogap, the motivation cited by the paper.

Reading between the lines

Editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • Editorial inference: if the anisotropy mechanism is right, changing $\gamma$ by pressure or chemical substitution should move $\theta_c$ according to $\theta_c=\tan^{-1}\gamma$; the paper does not perform this test.
  • Editorial inference: since the model keeps only the $n=0,1$ Landau levels, the same spectrum predicts additional structure in $\rho(H,\theta)$ at lower temperatures or higher fields; no such structure is reported here.
  • Editorial inference: d-DW quasiparticles should also leave signatures in angle-dependent thermoelectric, thermal-conductivity, or Hall measurements; the paper reports only resistivity.
  • Editorial inference: the two scaling laws amount to a one-parameter collapse that could be looked for in other layered heavy-fermion compounds with a pseudogap, though this paper restricts itself to CeCoIn5.
Original abstract

In-plane angular dependent resistivity ADR was measured in the non-Fermi liquid regime of CeCoIn$_5$ single crystals at temperatures $T \le 20$ K and in magnetic fields $H$ up to 14 T. Two scaling behaviors were identified in low field region where resistivity shows T-linear dependence, separated by a critical angle $\theta_{c}$ which is determined by the anisotropy of CeCoIn$_5$; i.e., ADR depends only on the perpendicular (parallel) field component below (above) $\theta_c$. These scaling behaviors and other salient features of ADR are consistent with d-wave density waves.

The compiled record

The paper's own sentences, arranged, kept beside the review and separate from it. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 3,072 input tokens, $0.0001 reported.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.03 · states limitation 0.09 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.03 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.71 · compares with prior results 0.10 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v4. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

In-plane angular dependent resistivity ADR was measured in the non-Fermi liquid regime of CeCoIn$_5$ single crystals at temperatures $T \le 20$ K and in magnetic fields $H$ up to 14 T. Two scaling behaviors were identified in low field region where resistivity shows T-linear dependence, separated by a critical angle $\theta_{c}$ which is determined by the anisotropy of CeCoIn$_5$; i.e., ADR depends only on the perpendicular (parallel) field component below (above) $\theta_c$. These scaling behaviors and other salient features of ADR are consistent with d-wave density waves.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 In-plane angular dependent resistivity ADR was measured in the non-Fermi liquid regime of CeCoIn$_5$ single crystals at temperatures $T \le 20$ K and in magnetic fields $H$ up to 14 T. method 0.75 0.94 0.02 asserted 1.00
s1 Two scaling behaviors were identified in low field region where resistivity shows T-linear dependence, separated by a critical angle $\theta_{c}$ which is determined by the anisotropy of CeCoIn$_5$; i.e., ADR depends only on the perpendicular (parallel) field component below (above) $\theta_c$. result 1.00 0.92 0.11 asserted 1.00
s2 These scaling behaviors and other salient features of ADR are consistent with d-wave density waves. interpretation 1.00 0.63 0.89 hedged possibility 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: empirical study 1.00 · evidence from observation or experiment 1.00.

What was examined, and what was not

sources read
  • arXiv listing abstract v4
not examined
  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers
levels run
  • P abstract
not run
  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

Figures
Figure 1. FIG. 1: A contour plot of the in-plane resistivity
Figure 2. FIG. 2: Figure 2(a) Scaling of resistivity
Figure 3. FIG. 3: Figure 3. In region I, scaling of resistivities
Figure 4. FIG. 4: Figure 4. Angular (
Figure 5. FIG. 5: Figure 5. Angular (

Figures reproduced from arXiv:cond-mat/0603092 by the authors.

References

Discussion

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