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The Crossover from a Bad Metal to a Frustrated Mott Insulator

We use a novel Monte Carlo method to study the Mott transition in an anisotropic triangular lattice. The real space approach, retaining extended spatial correlations, allows an accurate treatment of non trivial magnetic fluctuations in this frustrated structure. Choosing the degree of anisotropy to mimic the situation in the quasi-two dimensional organics, $κ-$(BEDT-TTF)$_2$Cu[N(CN)$_2$]-X, we detect a wide pseudogap phase, with anomalous spectral and transport properties, between the `ungapped' metal and the `hard gap' Mott insulator. The magnetic fluctuations also lead to pronounced momentum dependence of quasiparticle damping and pseudogap formation on the Fermi surface as the Mott transition is approached. Our predictions about the `bad metal' state have a direct bearing on the organics where they can be tested via tunneling, angle resolved photoemission, and magnetic structure factor measurement.