# Resistive Anomalies at Ferromagnetic Transitions Revisited: the case of SrRuO3

It is generally believed  that near a ferromagnetic phase transition the resistivity, $`\rho `$, exhibits an energy-like singularity so $`\mathrm{d}\rho /\mathrm{d}T|t|^\alpha `$ with $`\alpha 0.1`$ the specific heat exponent and $`t=(TT_c)/T_c`$. In a recent Letter , Klein et al. claimed that in SrRuO<sub>3</sub>, a strongly correlated “bad metal”, the resistive anomaly at $`T_c`$ is anomalous: at $`T>T_c`$, $`\mathrm{d}\rho /\mathrm{d}Tt^x`$ with $`x0.9`$ while for $`T<T_c`$ $`\mathrm{d}\rho /\mathrm{d}T`$ cannot be fit by any power law. Klein et al. obtained exponents by plotting $`\mathrm{ln}|\mathrm{d}\rho /\mathrm{d}TS_0|`$ vs $`\mathrm{ln}T/T_c`$ ($`S_0`$ is a $`T`$-independent background), a procedure shown to be unreliable in many cases .

We show here that the data are consistent with conventional theory,  which predicts

$$\mathrm{d}\rho /\mathrm{d}T=(A_\pm /\alpha )|t|^\alpha (1+D_\pm |t|^\theta )+S(t),$$
(1)   
where $`A_\pm `$ and $`D_\pm `$ are the amplitudes for the leading singularity and correction to scaling, $`\alpha `$ and $`\theta `$ are the specific heat and correction to scaling exponents and $`+()`$ refer to $`t>0(t<0)`$. $`S(t)`$ is a smooth function of $`t`$ which we approximate by $`S(t)=S_0+S_1t`$. Eq. (1) applies within a critical region $`|t|<t_{\mathrm{crit}}`$. The fits to $`\chi `$ in  imply $`t_{\mathrm{crit}}0.13`$; fitting $`|t|>t_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ requires a crossover theory . Due to rounding of the data very near $`T_c`$ points with $`|t|<t_{\mathrm{round}}`$ have been excluded. Following  we allowed for 1% variations in $`T_c`$ about the nominal value $`T_c^{}=150`$K. The fits depend crucially on $`t_{\mathrm{crit}}`$, $`t_{\mathrm{round}}`$ and $`t_c`$. Fig. 1 shows the data along with fits to Eq. (1) using Heisenberg exponents $`\alpha _H=0.1`$ and $`\theta _H=0.55`$, and universal amplitude ratios $`(A_+/A_{})_H=1.52`$ and $`(D_+/D_{})_H=1.4`$  with and without corrections to scaling for $`t_{\mathrm{round}}=0.01`$ and parameters given in Table I. Using Ising parameters in Eq. (1) produces slightly worse fits (not shown). The curve with corrections to scaling (i.e. $`D_+0`$) and $`t_{\mathrm{crit}}=0.1`$ is our best fit

with accepted universal amplitude ratios; varying these gives exact fits over the range $`t(0.2,0.5)`$. The results of  imply that the $`t>0`$ behavior is also consistent with $`\alpha 0.9`$, but we believe the consistency with conventional theory renders alternative interpretations implausible.

One of us  had previously suggested that in systems with very strong carrier-spin interactions, a term in $`\rho (T)`$ proportional to the square of the magnetization, $`^2`$, could arise at $`T<T_c`$. This suggestion was based on an erroneous interpretation of a spherical model calculation and is here withdrawn. Briefly, any scattering process contributing to $`\rho `$ involves a combination of spin operators at nearby points  and in a ferromagnet these can only involve the specific heat exponent. In the spherical model the specific heat and $`\mathrm{d}^2/\mathrm{d}T`$ have identical behavior.

We thank L. Klein for data, M. E. Fisher, J. Ye and J. S. Dodge for helpful conversations, J. S. Dodge for pointing out an error in our previous analysis, and NSF - DMR - 9707701 and the Johns Hopkins MRSEC.