Hall Number in YbRh2Si2

Abstract

Recent experimental studies have revealed an abrupt change in the Hall number at a field tuned quantum critical point in the heavy fermion magnet YbRh2Si2. We investigate this by calculating the local density band structure for this metal and the appropriate transport integrals. We find the Fermi surface to be multi-sheeted with the two largest sheets having opposite sign contributions to the Hall number. Small changes in the f electron occupation are sufficient to reproduce the observed large change in the Hall number. This suggests that YbRh2Si2 may be the first example of a quantum critical valence fluctuator.