Impact of short-range order on transport properties of the two-dimensional metal PdCrO2

We study the Hall and Nernst effects across the antiferromagnetic transition that reconstructs the quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface of the metallic local moment antiferromagnet PdCrO2. We show that nonmonotonic temperature dependence in the Hall effect and a sign change in the Nernst effect above the ordering temperature cannot be understood within a simple single-band transport model. The inclusion of coherent scattering by critical antiferromagnetic fluctuations can qualitatively account for these features in the transport coefficients. We discuss the implications of this for the pseudogap phase of the cuprate superconductors, which have a similar Fermi surface and where the same transport signatures are observed. © 2015 American Physical Society