Fractionalized Fermi Liquids

Abstract

In spatial dimensions d>or=2, Kondo lattice models of conduction and local moment electrons can exhibit a fractionalized, nonmagnetic state (FL(*)) with a Fermi surface of sharp electronlike quasiparticles, enclosing a volume quantized by (rho(a)-1)(mod 2), with rho(a) the mean number of all electrons per unit cell of the ground state. Such states have fractionalized excitations linked to the deconfined phase of a gauge theory. Confinement leads to a conventional Fermi liquid state, with a Fermi volume quantized by rho(a)(mod 2), and an intermediate superconducting state for the Z2 gauge case. The FL(*) state permits a second order metamagnetic transition in an applied magnetic field.