Mixed-valent regime of the two-channel Anderson impurity as a model for UBe_13

Abstract

We investigate the mixed-valent regime of a two-configuration Anderson impurity model for uranium ions, with separate quadrupolar and magnetic doublets. With a new Monte Carlo approach and the non-crossing approximation we find: (i) A non-Fermi-liquid fixed point with two-channel Kondo model critical behavior; (ii) Distinct energy scales for screening the low-lying and excited doublets; (iii) A semi-quantitative explanation of magnetic-susceptibility data for U$_{1-x}$Th$_x$Be$_{13}$ assuming 60-70% quadrupolar doublet ground-state weight, supporting the quadrupolar-Kondo interpretation.