Journal
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Volume 1, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500188
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Funding
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- LANL Directed Research and Development program
- DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE [DE-AC52-06NA25396]
- Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), U.S. DOE
- Office of Science of the U.S. DOE [DE-AC05-00OR22725]
- National Science Foundation [DMR-1405303]
- BES-DOE grant [DE-FG02-99ER45761]
- Seaborg Institute at LANL
- Division Of Materials Research
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1405303] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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A central issue in material science is to obtain understanding of the electronic correlations that control complex materials. Such electronic correlations frequently arise because of the competition of localized and itinerant electronic degrees of freedom. Although the respective limits of well-localized or entirely itinerant ground states are well understood, the intermediate regime that controls the functional properties of complex materials continues to challenge theoretical understanding. We have used neutron spectroscopy to investigate plutonium, which is a prototypical material at the brink between bonding and nonbonding configurations. Our study reveals that the ground state of plutonium is governed by valence fluctuations, that is, a quantum mechanical superposition of localized and itinerant electronic configurations as recently predicted by dynamical mean field theory. Our results not only resolve the long-standing controversy between experiment and theory on plutonium's magnetismbut also suggest an improved understanding of the effects of such electronic dichotomy in complex materials.
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