Hybridization fluctuations in the half-filled periodic Anderson model

Motivated by recent photoemission and pump-probe experiments, we report determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations of hybridization fluctuations in the half-filled periodic Anderson model. A tentative phase diagram is constructed based solely on hybridization fluctuation spectra and reveals a crossover regime between an unhybridized selective Mott state and a fully hybridized Kondo insulating state. This intermediate phase exhibits quantum hybridization fluctuations and consequentially the so-called "band bending" and a direct hybridization gap as observed in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and optical conductivity. This connects the band bending with the hybridization fluctuations as proposed in a recent ultrafast optical pump-probe experiment. The Kondo insulating state is only established at lower temperatures with the development of sufficiently strong intersite hybridization correlations. Our work suggests a unified picture for interpreting recent photoemission, pump-probe, and optical observations and provides numerical evidences for the importance of hybridization fluctuations in heavy fermion physics.