Quantum critical fluctuations in heavy fermion compounds

The electronic properties of heavy fermion alloys are dominated by spin fluctuations which are expected to become critical when tuned by pressure to a quantum critical point (QCP), entering a magnetic ordered state. Apart from the onset of exotic superconductivity, unexpected "normal conducting" behavior is found close to the QCP, which does not seem only to escape the conventional view of metals (Fermi liquids) but also the "conventional view" of an antiferromagnetic quantum phase transition in these f-metals. So far only few compounds have been investigated by neutron scattering to directly reveal the critical fluctuations spectrum. In CeCu₅₉Au₀₁ the fluctuations develop an unusual energy dependence, characterized by an exponent α = 0.75, which persist over the entire Brillouin zone, provoking an unexpected local non Fermi liquid behavior. The same unusual exponent derived from E/T scaling determines the H/T scaling of the uniform magnetization. Recent neutron scattering data in magnetic fields further confirm this picture of nearly free local magnetic moments (modified by α) emerging at the antiferromagnetic QCP in this strongly correlated electron system.