Eur. Phys. J. B 51, 523-536 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2006-00248-0

Non-Fermi-liquid phases in the two-band Hubbard model: finite-temperature exact diagonalization study of Hund's rule coupling

Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Corresponding authors: ^a aliebsch@fz-juelch.de - ^b t.costi@fz-juelich.de

Received: 19 January 2006
Revised: 12 April 2006
Published online: 22 June 2006

Abstract

The two-band Hubbard model involving subbands of different widths is investigated via finite-temperature exact diagonalization (ED) and dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). In contrast to the quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method which at low temperatures includes only Ising-like exchange interactions to avoid sign problems, ED permits a treatment of Hund's exchange and other onsite Coulomb interactions on the same footing. The role of finite-size effects caused by the limited number of bath levels in this scheme is studied by analyzing the low-frequency behavior of the subband self-energies as a function of temperature, and by comparing with numerical renormalization group (NRG) results for a simplified effective model. For half-filled, non-hybridizing bands, the metallic and insulating phases are separated by an intermediate mixed phase with an insulating narrow and a bad-metallic wide subband. The wide band in this phase exhibits different degrees of non-Fermi-liquid behavior, depending on the treatment of exchange interactions. Whereas for complete Hund's coupling, infinite lifetime is found at the Fermi level, in the absence of spin-flip and pair-exchange, this lifetime becomes finite. Excellent agreement is obtained both with new NRG and previous QMC/DMFT calculations. These results suggest that-finite temperature ED/DMFT might be a useful scheme for realistic multi-band materials.