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Valence fluctuation phenomena occur in rare-earth compounds in which the proximity of the 4f level to the Fermi energy leads to instabilities of the charge configuration (valence) and/or of the magnetic moment. We review the experimental results observed in the subset of such systems for which the 4f ions form a lattice with identical valence on each site. The discussion includes key thermodynamic experiments, such as susceptibility and lattice constant, and spectroscopic experiments such as XPS and neutron scattering. This is followed by a review of existing theoretical work concerning both the ground states and the isomorphic phase transitions which occur in such compounds ; the emphasis is on those aspects which make valence fluctuation phenomena such a challenging manybody problem.

We report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments probing deep into the hidden-order state of URu(2)Si(2), utilizing tunable photon energies with sufficient energy and momentum resolution to detect the near Fermi-surface (FS) behavior. Our results reveal (i) the full itinerancy of the 5f electrons, (ii) the crucial three-dimensional k-space nature of the FS and its critical nesting vectors, in good comparison with density-functional theory calculations, and (iii) the existence of hot-spot lines and pairing of states at the FS, leading to FS gapping in the hidden-order phase.

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Topological Dirac semimetals with accidental band touching between conduction and valence bands protected by time reversal and inversion symmetry are at the frontier of modern condensed matter research. A majority of discovered topological semimetals are nonmagnetic and conserve time reversal symmetry. Here we report the experimental discovery of an antiferromagnetic topological nodal-line semimetallic state in GdSbTe using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our systematic study reveals the detailed electronic structure of the paramagnetic state of antiferromagnetic GdSbTe. We observe the presence of multiple Fermi surface pockets including a diamond-shape, and small circular pockets around the zone center and high symmetry X points of the Brillouin zone (BZ), respectively. Furthermore, we observe the presence of a Dirac-like state at the X point of the BZ and the effect of magnetism along the nodal-line direction. Interestingly, our experimental data show a robust  Dirac-like state both below and above the magnetic transition temperature (TN  = 13 K). Having a relatively high transition temperature, GdSbTe provides an archetypical platform to study the interaction between magnetism and topological states of matter.

Ultraviolet-photoemission (UPS) measurements and supporting specific-heat, thermal-expansion, resistivity and magnetic-moment measurements are reported for the magnetic shape-memory alloy Ni2MnGa over the temperature range 100 K < T < 250 K. All measurements detect clear signatures of the premartensitic transition (TPM ∼ 247 K) and the martensitic transition (TM ∼ 196 K). Temperature-dependent UPS shows a dramatic depletion of states (pseudogap) at TPM located 0.3 eV below the Fermi energy. First-principles electronic structure calculations show that the peak observed at 0.3 eV in the UPS spectra for T > TPM is due to the Ni-d minority-spin electrons. Below TM this peak disappears, resulting in an enhanced density of states at energies around 0.8 eV. This enhancement reflects Ni-d and Mn-d electronic contributions to the majority-spin density of states and is accompanied by significant reconstruction of the Fermi surface. [5] as a system undergoing a martensitic transition (MT) in its ferromagnetic phase (T C ∼ 380 K) with little magnetic hysteresis. In the last decade research on these alloys has focused on the structural and magnetic characterization and on their shape-memory applications [6]. First-principles calculations [7,8] and measurements on shape-memory alloys [9,10,11,12] indicate the driving role of the electronic structure and its relation to the lattice dynamics.The lattice dynamics of Ni 2 MnGa has been investigated from ultrasonic measurements [13] and neutron diffraction experiments [14,15,16]. It was found that the transverse TA 2 phonon branch exhibits pronounced softening at 1/3 of the zone boundary on decreasing the temperature, and this softening was described as a Bain distortion in the context of the Wechler, Lieberman, and Read theory of martensite formation [17]. In similar structural shape-memory alloys InTl [9], AuZn [10] and NiAl [11], this softening is associated with nesting features of the Fermi surface [8]. Below a certain temperature, there is a freezing of the displacements associated with this soft phonon so that a micro-modulated phase forms, which is described as a periodic distortion of the parent cubic phase [14]. In Ni 2 MnGa, the premartensitic phase develops with little or no thermal hysteresis and is driven by a magnetoelastic coupling [18]. On further cooling, Ni 2 MnGa transforms to an approximately fivelayered quasi-tetragonal martensitic structure. The lowtemperature phase is incommensurate [14] with a period (0.43,0.43,0) and exhibits well-defined phasons best characterized as charge-density wave (CDW) excitations [16].In this paper we study the role of conduction electrons in the two-step MT in Ni 2 MnGa using photoemission spectroscopy and thermodynamic measurements. LEED and X-ray diffraction Laue measurements show the quality of our sample is appropriate for high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy. Ultraviolet photoemission (UPS) measurements show the opening of a pseudogap at 0.3 eV below the Fermi energy at the MT and provide further evidence that the Fer...

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