Weak-coupling functional renormalization-group analysis of the Hubbard model on the anisotropic triangular lattice

Abstract

Motivated by experiments on the layered compounds $κ$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$X, Cs$_2$CuCl$_4$, and very recently Na$_x$CoO$_2 \cdot y$H$_2$O, we present a weak-coupling functional renormalization-group analysis of the Hubbard model on the anisotropic triangular lattice. As the model interpolates between the nearest-neighbor square lattice and decoupled chains via the isotropic triangular lattice, it permits the study of competition between antiferromagnetic and BCS Cooper instabilities. We begin by reproducing known results for decoupled chains, and for the square lattice with only nearest-neighbor hopping amplitude $t_1$. We examine both repulsive and attractive Hubbard interactions. The role of formally irrelevant contributions to the one-loop renormalization-group flows is also studied, and these subleading contributions are shown to be important in some instances. We then observe that crossover to a BCS-dominated regime can occur even at half-filling when antiferromagnetism is frustrated through the introduction of a next-nearest-neighbor hopping amplitude $t_2$ along one of the two diagonal directions. Stripes are not expected to occur and time-reversal breaking $d_{x^2 - y^2} \pm i d_{xy}$ superconducting order does not arise spontaneously; instead pure $d_{x^2 - y^2}$ order is favored. At the isotropic triangular point ($t_1 = t_2$) we find the possibility of re-entrant antiferromagnetic long-range order.