Abstract
As we mark the centenary of Albert Einstein's seminal contribution to both quantum mechanics and special relativity, we approach another anniversary — that of Einstein's foundation of the quantum theory of solids. But 100 years on, the same experimental measurement that puzzled Einstein and his contemporaries is forcing us to question our understanding of how quantum matter transforms at ultra-low temperatures.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pais, A. Subtle is the Lord: the Science and the Life of Albert Einstein Ch. 20. 389–401 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1982).
Domb, C. The Critical Point: a Historical Introduction to the Modern Theory of Critical Phenomena (Taylor & Francis, London, 1996).
Sachdev, S. Quantum Phase Transitions (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1999)
Hertz, J. Quantum critical phenomena. Phys. Rev. B 14, 1165–1184 (1976).
Laughlin, R. B., Lonzarich, G. G., Monthoux, P. & Pines, D. The quantum criticality conundrum. Adv. Phys. 50, 361–365. (2001).
von Lohneysen, H. et al. Non-Fermi-liquid behavior in a heavy-fermion alloy at a magnetic instability. Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 3262–3265 (1994).
Stewart, G. R. Non-Fermi-liquid behavior in d- and f-electron metals. Rev. Mod. Phys. 73, 797–855 (2001).
Julian, S. R. et al. The normal states of magnetic d and f transition metals. J. Phys. Condens. Matt. 8, 9675–9688 (1996).
Grigera, S. A. et al. Magnetic field tuned quantum criticality in the metallic ruthenate Sr3Ru2O7 . Science 294, 329–332 (2001).
Doiron-Leyraud, N. et al. Fermi liquid breakdown in the paramagnetic phase of a pure metal. Nature 425, 595–599 (2003).
Schröder, A. et al. Onset of antiferromagnetism in heavy-fermion metals. Nature 407, 351–355 (2000).
Millis, A. J. Effect of a non-zero temperature on quantum critical points in itinerant fermion systems. Phys. Rev. B 48, 7183–7196 (1993).
Rosch, A. Interplay of disorder and spin fluctuations in the resistivity near a quantum critical point. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4280–4283 (1999).
Belitz, D., Kirkpatrick, T. R. & Rollühler, J. Breakdown of the perturbative renormalization group at certain quantum critical points. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 155701/1–4 (2004).
Si, Q., Rabello, S., Ingersent K. & Smith, J. L. Locally critical quantum phase transitions in strongly correlated metals. Nature 413, 804–808 (2001).
Coleman, P., Pépin, C., Qimiao Si & Ramazashvili, R. How do Fermi liquids get heavy and die? J. Phys. Condens. Matt. 13, R723–R738 (2001).
Senthil, T., Vishwanath, A., Balents, L., Sachdev, S. & Fisher, M. P. A. Deconfined quantum critical points. Science 303, 1490–1494 (2004).
Mathur, N. D. et al. Magnetically mediated superconductivity in heavy fermion compounds. Nature 394, 39–43 (1998).
Petrovic, C. et al. A new heavy-fermion superconductor CeIrIn/sub 5/: a relative of the cuprates? Europhys. Lett. 53, 354–359 (2001).
Grigera, S. A. et al. Disorder-sensitive phase formation linked to metamagnetic quantum criticality. Science 306, 1154–1157 (2004).
Kim, K. H., Harrison, N., Jaime, M., Boebinger, G. S. & Mydosh, J. A. Magnetic-field-induced quantum critical point and competing order parameters in URu2Si2 . Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 256401/1–4 (2003).
Amitsuka, H. et al. Hidden order and weak antiferromagnetism in URu2Si2 . Physica B 312–3, 390–396 (2002).
Chandra, P. et al. Hidden orbital order in URu2Si2 . Nature 417, 831–834 (2002).
Chapline, G. & Laughlin, R. B. in Artificial Black Holes (eds Novello, M. et al.) 179–198 (World Scientific, Singapore, 2002).
Custers, J. et al. The break up of heavy electrons at a quantum critical point. Nature 424, 524–527 (2003).
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge discussions with P. Chandra, Z. Fisk, A. P. Mackenzie and D. Pines. P.C. is supported by the National Science Foundation. A.J.S. is supported by the Royal Society, the Leverhulme Trust and the EPSRC.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coleman, P., Schofield, A. Quantum criticality. Nature 433, 226–229 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03279
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03279
This article is cited by
-
A layered metal confines heavy electrons to two dimensions
Nature (2024)
-
Weak-coupling to strong-coupling quantum criticality crossover in a Kitaev quantum spin liquid α-RuCl3
npj Quantum Materials (2023)
-
Indications of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point in \(\textrm{SmN}_{1-\delta }\)
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
The breakdown of both strange metal and superconducting states at a pressure-induced quantum critical point in iron-pnictide superconductors
Nature Communications (2023)
-
Quantum critical fluctuations in an Fe-based superconductor
Communications Physics (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.