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A unified explanation of the Kadowaki–Woods ratio in strongly correlated metals

Nature Physics volume 5, pages 422–425 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Discoveries of ratios whose values are constant within broad classes of materials have led to many deep physical insights. The Kadowaki–Woods ratio (KWR; refs 1, 2) compares the temperature dependence of a metal’s resistivity to that of its heat capacity, thereby probing the relationship between the electron–electron scattering rate and the renormalization of the electron mass. However, the KWR takes very different values in different materials3,4. Here we introduce a ratio, closely related to the KWR, that includes the effects of carrier density and spatial dimensionality and takes the same (predicted) value in organic charge-transfer salts, transition-metal oxides, heavy fermions and transition metals—despite the numerator and denominator varying by ten orders of magnitude. Hence, in these materials, the same emergent physics is responsible for the mass enhancement and the quadratic temperature dependence of the resistivity, and no exotic explanations of their KWRs are required.

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Figure 1: The standard Kadowaki–Woods plot.
Figure 2: Comparison of the ratio defined in equation (5) with experimental data.

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Acknowledgements

It is a pleasure to thank J. Castro, N. Hussey, M. Kennett, R. McKenzie, J. Merino, G. Notley, M. Smith, T. Stace, C. Varma, A. White and J. Wosnitza for their helpful comments. This research was supported under the Australian Research Council’s (ARC’s) Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP0878523). B.J.P. is the recipient of an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship (DP0878523).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics, School of Physical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia

    A. C. Jacko & B. J. Powell

  2. School of Physical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia

    J. O. Fjærestad

Authors
  1. A. C. Jacko
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  2. J. O. Fjærestad
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  3. B. J. Powell
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Contributions

This project was planned and led by B.J.P. All authors contributed equally to the derivation. The analysis of the previously published experimental data was carried out by A.C.J. The paper was written by B.J.P. with significant input from A.C.J. and J.O.F.

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Correspondence to B. J. Powell.

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Jacko, A., Fjærestad, J. & Powell, B. A unified explanation of the Kadowaki–Woods ratio in strongly correlated metals. Nature Phys 5, 422–425 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1249

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