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    Hund's metal physics in uranium mononitride

    Byungkyun Kang*, Stephen S. Micklo, Roy N. Herrera-Navarro, Mark R. Pederson, and Eunja Kim†

    • *Contact author: bkkang@utep.edu
    • †Contact author: ekim4@utep.edu

    Phys. Rev. B 113, 195106 – Published 1 May, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/khzr-s8t2

    Abstract

    Uranium 5f electrons often yield heavy-fermion behavior via Kondo screening. However, the pronounced bad-metallic transport of uranium mononitride (UN) defies an incoherent Kondo explanation. Using density-functional theory combined with dynamical mean-field theory, we show that UN is a strongly correlated bad metal. The dominant correlations arise from intra-atomic Hund's exchange interaction between two 5f electrons, which aligns local magnetic moments and produces large quasiparticle mass renormalization. This identifies UN as a 5f-electron analog of a Hund's metal—a paradigm chiefly associated with transition-metal d systems. Our results motivate a reexamination of the interplay between Mott, Kondo, and Hund-driven correlations across actinide correlated materials.

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