Power law specific heat divergence in Sr3Ru2O7

Abstract

We present measurement and analysis of field-dependent specific heat measurements on Sr3Ru2O7, showing that, at low temperatures, an incipient divergence is cut off by the formation of a new phase previously identified to show the transport properties of an electronic nematic. We discuss how to interpret a specific heat divergence in a system with van Hove singularities, and caution against a simple-minded comparison of experimentally determined power laws with the predictions of quantum critical theories. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.