A Fermi surface coupled to a scalar field can be described in a $1/N$ expansion by choosing the fermion-scalar Yukawa coupling to be random in the $N$-dimensional flavor space, but invariant under translations. We compute the conductivity of such a theory in two spatial dimensions for a critical scalar. We find a Drude contribution, and verify that the proposed $1/{\omega }^{2/3}$ contribution to the optical conductivity at frequency $\omega$ has vanishing coefficient for a convex Fermi surface. We also describe the influence of impurity scattering of the fermions, and find that while the self-energy resembles a marginal Fermi liquid, the resistivity and optical conductivity behave like a Fermi liquid.

• Received 21 July 2022
• Accepted 16 September 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.115151