A microscopic model for the transport anisotropies in the high-field antiferromagnetic phase of CeRhIn5

Abstract Since the report of transport anisotropies at magnetic fields B>30T within the antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase of the heavy-fermion compound CeRhIn_{5} [1], the nature of this phenomenon has been intensively investigated. The possibility of a nematic state was suggested, but the microscopic origin of the anisotropies has remained elusive. Signatures of the anisotropic phase have also been detected in magnetostriction [2], ultrasonic [3], NMR [4,5], and specific heat [6] experiments. This phase has a type AFM ordering (dubbed AFM3) that is different from the zero-field phase [7], with the f-moments lying in the basal plane, perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. Motivated by these results, we have investigated the transport properties of a microscopic Kondo lattice model of the active Ce-In planes of this compound in the presence of the AFM3 ordering. Our results show that the breaking of the C_{4} symmetry caused by the ordered f-moments in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling is capable of generating the anisotropic magneto-resististance seen in the experiments.

Abstract [1] F. Running et al., Nature 548, 313 (2017).

Abstract [2] P. F. S. Rosa et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 016402 (2019).

Abstract [3] R. Kurihara et al., Phys. Rev. B 101, 155125 (2020).

Abstract [4] G. G. Lesseux et al., Phys. Rev. B 101, 165111 (2020).

Abstract [5] T. Kanda et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 89, 094709 (2020).

Abstract [6] S. Mishra et al., Phys. Rev. B 103, 045110 (2021).

Abstract [7] D. M. Fobes et al., Nat. Phys. 14, 456 (2018).