Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 11, 2025

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform
Published on: August 2, 2019
Evidence for a delocalization quantum phase transition without symmetry breaking in CeCoIn5
Nikola Maksimovic1,2, Daniel H Eilbott1,2, Tessa Cookmeyer1,2
1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Abstract:
The study of quantum phase transitions that are not clearly associated with broken symmetry is a major effort in condensed matter physics, particularly in regard to the problem of high-temperature superconductivity, for which such transitions are thought to underlie the mechanism of superconductivity itself. Here we argue that the putative quantum critical point in the prototypical unconventional superconductor CeCoIn5 is characterized by the delocalization of electrons in a transition that connects two Fermi surfaces of different volumes, with no apparent broken symmetry. Drawing on established theory of f-electron metals, we discuss an interpretation for such a transition that involves the fractionalization of spin and charge, a model that effectively describes the anomalous transport behavior we measured for the Hall effect.
More Related Videos
08:44Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene
Published on: August 22, 2017
07:50Electron Channeling Contrast Imaging for Rapid III-V Heteroepitaxial Characterization
Published on: July 17, 2015
Related Concept Videos
IR Absorption Frequency: Delocalization
In IR...
Phase Transitions
Fermi Level Dynamics
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
Free Energy Changes for Nonstandard States
where R is the gas constant (8.314 J/K·mol), T is the absolute temperature in kelvin, and Q is the reaction quotient. This equation may be used to predict the spontaneity of a process under any given set of conditions.
Reaction Quotient...
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation