Phenomenological Aspects of Heavy Fermions

Abstract

The contrasting equilibrium and transport experimental results in the solids which exhibit heavy-fermion behavior are used to specify a phenomenological theory which puts strong constraints on a microscopic description. These constraints are not satisfied by a Fermi-liquid theory similar to that for liquid ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{He}$. The heavy mass arises through the renormalization of conduction electrons by the exchange of spin fluctuations of what at high temperatures were the local moments. Expressions for the specific-heat and the magnetic-susceptibility enhancements in terms of the Landau interaction functional and predictions for some transport properties are given.