A scattering framework for linear magnetoresistance when the mean free path exceeds the length scale of disorder

Linear magnetoresistance, where the change in resistivity grows linearly with an applied magnetic field, has been observed in conductors ranging from polycrystalline elemental metals to Weyl semimetals to more recently high-Tc so-called strange metals. In previous work [1], the authors examined the linear magnetoresistance of a cuprate high-Tc superconductor within the framework of a classical disorder model, or when the disorder is within well-defined macroscopic quantities such as the local conductivity. A classical disorder model can just justified roughly when the mean free path is much smaller than the length scale governing inhomogeneity within a material; however, a new mechanism must be at play for low temperatures when the mean free path exceeds the length scale of any material inhomogeneity. It is precisely this latter regime which we investigate from a diagrammatic repeated-scattering framework in order to clarify the mechanism of linear magnetoresistance in disordered conductors beyond a classical framework.




[1] https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.155139