Critical Nature of the Ni Spin State in Doped NdNiO_{2}

Superconductivity with T_{c}≈15  K was recently found in doped NdNiO_{2}. The Ni^{1+}O_{2} layers are expected to be Mott insulators, so hole doping should produce Ni^{2+} with S=1, incompatible with robust superconductivity. We show that the NiO_{2} layers fall inside a critical region where the large pd hybridization favors a singlet ^{1}A_{1} hole-doped state like in CuO_{2}. However, we find that the superexchange is about one order smaller than in cuprates, thus a magnon "glue" is very unlikely and another mechanism needs to be found.