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We study the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity in a system composed of critical spin chains interacting with three dimensional conduction electrons and driven to criticality via an external magnetic field. The relevant experimental system is Yb2Pt2Pb, a metal where itinerant electrons coexist with localized moments of Yb-ions which can be described in terms of effective S=1/2 spins with dominantly one-dimensional exchange interaction. The spin subsystem becomes critical in a relatively weak magnetic field, where it behaves like a Luttinger liquid. We theoretically examine a Kondo lattice with different effective space dimensionalities of the two interacting subsystems. We characterize the corresponding non-Fermi liquid behavior due to the ``local criticality'' from the spins by calculating the electronic relaxation rate and the dc resistivity and establish its quasi linear temperature dependence.

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Laura Classen, BNL
Seminar Room 0.03, ETP
Contact: Michael Scherer