Multi-orbital physics in lithium-molybdenum purple-bronze: going beyond paradigm

We investigate the role of inter-orbital fluctuations in the low energy physics of a quasi-1D material – lithium molybdenum purple bronze (LMO). It is an exceptional material that may provide us a long sought realization of a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL) physics, but its behaviour at temperatures of the order of T ∗ ≈ 30 K remains puzzling despite numerous efforts. Here we make a conjecture that the physics around T ∗ is dominated by multi-orbital excitations. Their properties can be captured using an excitonic picture. Using this relatively simple model we compute fermionic Green’s function in the presence of excitons. We find that the spectral function is broadened with a Gaussian and its temperature dependence acquires an extra T 1 factor. Both effects are in perfect agreement with experimental findings. We also compute the resistivity for temperatures above and below critical temperature T 0. We explain an upturn of the resistivity at 28 K and interpret the suppression of this extra component of resistivity when a magnetic field is applied along the conducting axis. Furthermore, in the framework of our model, we qualitatively discuss and consistently explain other experimentally detected peculiarities of purple bronze: the breaking of Wiedmann-Franz law and the magnetochromatic behaviour. Our model consistently explains all these.