Quantum Criticality at −0.02 Resistivity Unveils Pseudogap Phase in Infinite-Layer Nickelates

Condensed Matter > Strongly Correlated Electrons arXiv:2510.12786 (cond-mat) [Submitted on 14 Oct 2025] Title:Quantum criticality at the end of a pseudogap phase in superconducting infinite-layer nickelates Authors:C. Iorio-Duval, E. Beauchesne-Blanchet, F. Perreault, J. L. Santana González, W. Sun, Y. F. Nie, A. Gourgout, G. Grissonnanche View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum criticality at the end of a pseudogap phase in superconducting infinite-layer nickelates, by C. Iorio-Duval and 7 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:In many unconventional superconductors, the strange-metal regime is thought to emerge from quantum criticality, yet in cuprates this link is obscured by the enigmatic pseudogap. Superconducting infinite-layer nickelates provide a new arena to test this paradigm but are constrained to thin films, precluding calorimetry. We use the Seebeck coefficient as a low-temperature proxy for entropy per carrier and uncover a clear quantum-critical thermodynamic signature: in La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$ at the onset of $T$-linear resistivity ($x=0.20$), $S/T$ diverges logarithmically upon cooling, $S/T \propto \log T$. Boltzmann transport based on ARPES-derived band structure reproduces the high-temperature magnitude and sign of $S/T$ and reveals a threefold mass renormalization at the Fermi level. To identify the terminating phase, we analyze Hall data across Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$ and show that its temperature evolution is quantitatively captured by a minimal two-band model in which a strongly correlated Ni-$d_{x^2-y^2}$ Fermi surface exhibits Planckian $T$-linear scattering while the rare-earth Nd-$s$ pocket remains Fermi-liquid-like. Inverting the zero-temperature Hall response reveals a collapse of the Ni-$d_{x^2-y^2}$ band carrier density from $1+p$ to $p$ holes across the critical doping, without long-range magnetic order -- mirroring the cuprate pseudogap transition in cuprates. These results establish a quantum critical point at the end of a pseudogap-like phase in infinite-layer nickelates and unify the broader paradigm among correlated superconductors that strange metal behaviour is intimately linked to quantum criticality. Comments: Subjects: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el); Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con) Cite as: arXiv:2510.12786 [cond-mat.str-el] (or arXiv:2510.12786v1 [cond-mat.str-el] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2510.12786 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Gael Grissonnanche [view email] [v1] Tue, 14 Oct 2025 17:56:39 UTC (500 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum criticality at the end of a pseudogap phase in superconducting infinite-layer nickelates, by C. Iorio-Duval and 7 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: cond-mat.str-el new | recent | 2025-10 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.supr-con References & Citations NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) IArxiv recommender toggle IArxiv Recommender (What is IArxiv?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)