We examine the nature of phase transitions occurring in strongly correlated Fermi systems at the quantum critical point (QCP) associated with a divergent effective mass. Conventional scenarios for the QCP involving collective degrees of freedom are shown to have serious shortcomings. Working within the original Landau quasiparticle picture, we propose an alternative topological scenario for the QCP, in systems that obey standard Fermi liquid (FL) theory in advance of the QCP. Applying the technique of Poincaré mapping, we analyze the sequence of iterative maps generated by the Landau equation for the single-particle spectrum at zero temperature. It is demonstrated that the Fermi surface is subject to rearrangement beyond the QCP. If the sequence of maps converges, a multi-connected Fermi surface is formed. If it fails to converge, the Fermi surface swells into a volume that provides a measure of entropy associated with formation of an exceptional state of the system characterized by partial occupation of single-particle states and dispersion of their spectrum proportional to temperature. Based on this dual scenario, the thermodynamics of Fermi systems beyond the QCP exhibits striking departures from the predictions of standard FL theory. Mechanisms for the release of the entropy excess of the exceptional state are discussed.

Thermodynamic characteristics of Fermi systems are investigated in the vicinity of a phase transition where the effective mass diverges and the single-particle spectrum becomes flat. It is demonstrated that at extremely low temperatures T , the flattening of the spectrum is reflected in non-Fermi-liquid behavior of the inverse susceptibility χ −1 (T ) ∼ T α and the specific heat C(T )/T ∼ T −α , with the critical index α = 2/3. In the presence of an external static magnetic field H, both these quantities are found to exhibit a scaling behavior, e.g. χ −1 (T, H) = χ −1 (T, 0) + T 2/3 F (H/T ), in agreement with available experimental data.

A semi-microscopic model for nucleon pairing in nuclei is presented starting from the ab intio BCS gap equation with Argonne v18 force and the self-consistent Energy Density Functional Method basis characterized with the bare nucleon mass. The BCS theory is formulated in terms of the model space S0 with the effective pairing interaction calculated from the first principles in the subsidiary space S0. This effective interaction is supplemented with a small phenomenological addendum containing one phenomenological parameter universal for all medium and heavy atomic nuclei. We consider the latter as a phenomenological way to take into account both the many-body corrections to the BCS theory and the effective mass effects. For protons, the Coulomb interaction is introduced directly. Calculations made for several isotopic and isotonic chains of semi-magic nuclei confirm the validity of the model. The role of the self-consistent basis is stressed.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, 3 table

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