7.

6 Spin Density Waves 373

The SDW order makes a finite contribution to the specific heat Cv =

-T(a2s2/lV2)up to Tcr, where it vanishes in a step-like fashion. The
prediction of such a lambda-anomaly is a hallmark of weak coupling
mean-field calculations. The discontinuity at Tcr is

where we recalled that 1/W corresponds to p ( e ~ ) Since

. the specific heat
above Tcr must coincide with the non-interacting Cv(T = Tcr+ 0) =
(2r2/3)Icgp(e~)Tcr, we deduce a universal weak-coupling ratio between
the peak value of the lambda anomaly, and the normal-state value

The weak-coupling results (7.78)-( 7.86) describe the observed be-

haviour of a number of systems quite well, just as the analogous BCS
theory works beautifully for weak-coupling superconductors. This needs
some explanation. The ubiquitous BCS features have their foundation
in the truly universal instability22of the (three-dimensional) Fermi sea
against Cooper pair formation, and in the fact that the phonon-induced
effective attraction is weak on the scale of the Fermi energy. In contrast,
the condition for the applicability of weak-coupling SDW theory is the
divergence of the non-interacting x(O)(q),which we derived from the
perfect nesting property (7.49). For three-dimensional systems, this is
an artificial assumption, and we cannot expect that it is ever exactly
fulfilled: a weak hopping to next-to-nearest neighbours is enough to
destroy it.
Let us, however, observe that it is not really necessary to require the
fulfillment of e(k + Q) = -e(k) in the whole Brillouin zone if all what
we want is a weak SDW. It is enough if it holds in a narrow range about
the Fermi surface where we can linearize the spectrum:
22The Fermi sea is unstable against Cooper pair formation in the presence of
an (effective) attractive electron-electron interaction which can be traced back to
the electron-phonon interaction. Less obviously, there can be a similar instability
also with a net repulsive interaction [219]. It is believed that even the apparently
non-ordering (i.e., non-magnetic and non-superconducting) metals should eventu-
ally become unstable against some kind of pair condensation, though maybe only at
unobservably low temperatures.