Impurity spin dynamics and quantum coherence in mesoscopic rings

We investigate the effects of impurity spin dynamics on quantum coherence in mesoscopic metallic rings. Spin relaxation induces temporal current fluctuations which are closely related to persistent currents in such systems. The persistent current is suppressed in the presence of magnetic impurities. We discuss spin-polarisation effects, spin-glass ordering, and the Kondo effect which are shown to restore the current even in the presence of magnetic scattering.     

Non-fermi-liquid scaling in Ce(Ru0.5Rh)2Si2

We study the temperature and field dependence of the magnetic and transport properties of the non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) compound Ce(Ru0.5Rh0.5)2Si2. For fields H less, similar0.1 T the results suggest that the observed NFL behavior is disorder driven. For higher fields, however, magnetic and transport properties are dominated by the coupling of the conduction electrons to critical spin fluctuations. The temperature dependence of the susceptibility as well as the scaling properties of the magnetoresistance are in very good agreement with the predictions of recent dynamical mean-field theories of Kondo alloys close to a spin-glass quantum critical point.     

Splitting and Restoration of Kondo Peak in a Deformed Molecule Quantum Dot Coupled to Ferromagnetic Electrodes

We adopt the nonequilibrium Green＇s function method to theoretically study the Kondo effect in a deformed molecule, which is treated as an electron-phonon interaction （EPI） system. The self-energy for phonon part is calculated in the standard many-body diagrammatic expansion up to the second order in EPI strength. We find that the multiple phonon-assisted Kondo satellites arise besides the usual Kondo resonance. In the antiparallel magnetic configuration the splitting of main Kondo peak and phonon-assisted satellites only happen for asymmetrical dot-lead couplings, but it is free from the symmetry for the parallel magnetic configuration. The EPI strength and vibrational frequency can enhance the spin splitting of both main Kondo and satellites. It is shown that the suppressed zero-bias Kondo resonance can be restored by applying an external magnetic field, whose magnitude is dependent on the phononic effect remarkably. Although the asymmetry in tunnel coupling has no contribution to the restoration of spin splitting of Kondo peak, it can shrink the external field needed to switch tunneling magnetoresistance ratio between large negative dip and large positive peak.     

Kondo-transport spectroscopy of single molecule magnets

We demonstrate that in a single molecule magnet strongly coupled to electrodes the Kondo effect involves all magnetic excitations. This Kondo effect is induced by the quantum tunneling of the magnetic moment. Importantly, the Kondo temperature TK can be much larger than the magnetic splittings. We find a strong modulation of the Kondo effect as a function of the transverse anisotropy parameter or a longitudinal magnetic field. Both for integer and half-integer spin this can be used for an accurate transport spectroscopy of the magnetic states in low magnetic fields on the order of the easy-axis anisotropy parameter. We set up a relationship between the Kondo effects for successive integer and half-integer spins.     

Nonequilibrium spintronic transport through an artificial Kondo impurity: conductance,magnetoresistance, and shot noise

We investigate the nonequilibrium transport properties of a quantum dot when spin flip processes compete with the formation of a Kondo resonance in the presence of ferromagnetic leads. Based upon the Anderson Hamiltonian in the strongly interacting limit, we predict a splitting of the differential conductance when the spin flip scattering amplitude is of the order of the Kondo temperature. We discuss how the relative orientation of the lead magnetizations strongly influences the electronic current and the shot noise in a nontrivial way. Furthermore, we find that the zero-bias tunneling magnetoresistance becomes negative with increasing spin flip scattering amplitude.     

Chiral-glass transition and replica symmetry breaking of a three-dimensional heisenberg spin glass

Extensive equilibrium Monte Carlo simulations are performed for a three-dimensional Heisenberg spin glass with the nearest-neighbor Gaussian coupling to investigate its spin-glass and chiral-glass orderings. The occurrence of a finite-temperature chiral-glass transition without the conventional spin-glass order is established. Critical exponents characterizing the transition are different from those of the standard Ising spin glass. The calculated overlap distribution suggests the appearance of a peculiar type of replica-symmetry breaking in the chiral-glass ordered state.     

Replica symmetry breaking transition of the weakly anisotropic Heisenberg spin glass in magnetic fields

The spin and the chirality orderings of the three-dimensional Heisenberg spin glass with the weak random anisotropy are studied under applied magnetic fields by equilibrium Monte Carlo simulations. A replica symmetry breaking transition occurs in the chiral sector accompanied by the simultaneous spin-glass order. The ordering behavior differs significantly from that of the Ising spin glass, despite the similarity in the global symmetry. Our observation is consistent with the spin-chirality decoupling-recoupling scenario of a spin-glass transition.     

Phase transitions in random Potts systems and the community detection problem: spin-glass type and dynamic perspectives

Phase transitions in spin-glass type systems and, more recently, in related computational problems have gained broad interest in disparate arenas. In the current work, we focus on the “community detection” problem when cast in terms of a general Potts spin-glass type problem. As such, our results apply to rather broad Potts spin-glass type systems. Community detection describes the general problem of partitioning a complex system involving many elements into optimally decoupled “communities” of such elements. We report on phase transitions between solvable and unsolvable regimes. A solvable region may further split into “easy” and “hard” phases. Spin-glass type phase transitions appear at both low and high temperatures (or noise). Low-temperature transitions correspond to an “order by disorder” type effect wherein fluctuations render the system ordered or solvable. Separate transitions appear at higher temperatures into a disordered (or an unsolvable) phase. Different sorts of randomness lead to disparate behaviors. We illustrate the spin glass character of both transitions and report on memory effects. We further relate Potts type spin systems to mechanical analogs and suggest how chaotic-type behavior in general thermodynamic systems can indeed naturally arise in hard computational problems and spin glasses. The correspondence between the two types of transitions (spin glass and dynamic) is likely to extend across a larger spectrum of spin-glass type systems and hard computational problems. We briefly discuss potential implications of these transitions in complex many-body physical systems.     

Interacting quantum dot coupled to a kondo spin: a universal Hamiltonian study

We study a Kondo spin coupled to a mesoscopic interacting quantum dot that is described by the "universal Hamiltonian." The problem is solved numerically by diagonalizing the system Hamiltonian in a good-spin basis and analytically in the weak and strong Kondo coupling limits. The ferromagnetic exchange interaction within the dot leads to a stepwise increase of the ground-state spin (Stoner staircase), which is modified nontrivially by the Kondo interaction. We find that the spin-transition steps move to lower values of the exchange coupling for weak Kondo interaction, but shift back up for sufficiently strong Kondo coupling. The interplay between Kondo and ferromagnetic exchange correlations can be probed with experimentally tunable parameters.     

Why could electron spin resonance be observed in a heavy fermion Kondo lattice?

We develop a theoretical basis for understanding the spin relaxation processes in Kondo lattice systems with heavy fermions as experimentally observed by electron spin resonance (ESR). The Kondo effect leads to a common energy scale that regulates a logarithmic divergence of different spin kinetic coefficients and supports a collective spin motion of the Kondo ions with conduction electrons. We find that the relaxation rate of a collective spin mode is greatly reduced due to a mutual cancellation of all the divergent contributions even in the case of the strongly anisotropic Kondo interaction. The contribution to the ESR linewidth caused by the local magnetic field distribution is subject to motional narrowing supported by ferromagnetic correlations. The developed theoretical model successfully explains the ESR data of YbRh₂Si₂ in terms of their dependence on temperature and magnetic field.     

Quantum XY Spin-Glass Model with Ferromagnetic Couplings and Plane Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interactions

In the generalized quantum replica symmetric approximation, a quantum XY spin-glass model with ferromagnetic coupling and planar Dzyaloshinski-Mariya (DM) interactions is investigated theoretically. Entropy and specific heat are calculated numerically as well as spin self-interactions and spin-glass order parameters for spin S = 1. It is found that the doublecusp of the specific heat, which corresponds to the collinear ferromagnetic and the paramagnetic ferromagnetic transitions respectively, .coincides completely due to DM-anisotropy interactions. Additionally, the local susceptibility and the spontaneous magnetization are evaluated numerically.     

Scaling analysis of domain-wall free energy in the Edwards-Anderson Ising spin glass in a magnetic field

The stability of the spin-glass phase against a magnetic field is studied in the three- and four-dimensional Edwards-Anderson Ising spin glasses. Effective couplings J(eff) and effective fields H(eff) associated with length scale L are measured by a numerical domain-wall renormalization-group method. The results obtained by scaling analysis of the data strongly indicate the existence of a crossover length beyond which the spin-glass order is destroyed by field H. The crossover length well obeys a power law of H which diverges as H --> 0 but remains finite for any nonzero H, implying that the spin-glass phase is absent even in an infinitesimal field. These results are well consistent with the droplet theory for short-range spin glasses.     

Kondo effect in the presence of itinerant-electron ferromagnetism studied with the numerical renormalization group method

The Kondo effect in quantum dots (QDs)-artificial magnetic impurities-attached to ferromagnetic leads is studied with the numerical renormalization group method. It is shown that the QD level is spin split due to the presence of ferromagnetic electrodes, leading to a suppression of the Kondo effect. We find that the Kondo effect can be restored by compensating this splitting with a magnetic field. Although the resulting Kondo resonance then has an unusual spin asymmetry with a reduced Kondo temperature, the ground state is still a locally screened state, describable by Fermi liquid theory and a generalized Friedel sum rule, and transport at zero temperature is spin independent.     

Nonequilibrium dynamics of anisotropic large spins in the kondo regime: time-dependent numerical renormalization group analysis

We investigate the time-dependent Kondo effect in a single-molecule magnet (SMM) strongly coupled to metallic electrodes. Describing the SMM by a Kondo model with large spin S>1/2, we analyze the underscreening of the local moment and the effect of anisotropy terms on the relaxation dynamics of the magnetization. Underscreening by single-channel Kondo processes leads to a logarithmically slow relaxation, while finite uniaxial anisotropy causes a saturation of the SMM's magnetization. Additional transverse anisotropy terms induce quantum spin tunneling and a pseudospin-1/2 Kondo effect sensitive to the spin parity.     

Mean-field renormalization group for the q-state clock spin-glass model

The mean-field renormalization group is used to study the phase diagrams of a d-dimensional q-state clock spin-glass model. We found, for q = 3 clock, the transition from paramagnet to spin glass is an isotropic spin-glass phase, but for q = 4 clock, the transition from paramagnet to spin glass is an anisotropic spin-glass phase. However, for q ⩾ 5 clock, the result of anisotropic spin-glass phase depends on the temperature and the distribution of random coupling. While the coordinate number approaches infinity, the critical temperature evaluated by the mean-field renormalization group method is equal to that by the replica method.     

Spin fractionalization of an even number of electrons in a quantum Dot

We find that Kondo resonant conductance can occur in a quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime with an even number of electrons N. The contacts are attached to the dot in a pillar configuration, and a magnetic field B( perpendicular) along the axis is applied. B( perpendicular) lifts the spin degeneracy of the dot energies. Usually, this prevents the system from developing the Kondo effect. Tuning B( perpendicular) to the value B(*) where levels with different total spin cross restores both the degeneracy and the Kondo effect. We analyze a dot charged with N = 2 electrons. Coupling to the contacts is antiferromagnetic due to a spin selection rule and, in the Kondo state, the charge is unchanged while the total spin on the dot is S = 1/2.     

Quantum-tunneling-induced Kondo effect in single molecular magnets

We consider transport through a single-molecule magnet strongly coupled to metallic electrodes. We demonstrate that, for a half-integer spin of the molecule, electron and spin tunneling cooperate to produce both quantum tunneling of the magnetic moment and a Kondo effect in the linear conductance. The Kondo temperature depends sensitively on the ratio of the transverse and easy-axis anisotropies in a nonmonotonic way. The magnetic symmetry of the transverse anisotropy imposes a selection rule on the total spin for the occurrence of the Kondo effect which deviates from the usual even-odd alternation.     

Spin-resolved splitting of Kondo resonances in the presence of RKKY-type coupling

We have performed spin-resolved measurements on a Kondo impurity in the presence of RKKY-type exchange coupling. By placing manganese phthalocyanine (MnPc) molecules on Fe-supported Pb islands, a Kondo system is devised which is exchange coupled to a magnetic substrate via conduction electrons in Pb, inducing spin splitting of the Kondo resonance. The spin-polarized nature of the split Kondo resonance and a spin filter effect induced by spin-flip inelastic electron tunneling are revealed by spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy.     

Mean field theory of a quantum heisenberg spin glass

A full mean-field solution of a quantum Heisenberg spin-glass model is presented in a large- N limit. A spin-glass transition is found for all values of the spin S. The quantum critical regime associated with the quantum transition at S = 0 and the various regimes in the spin-glass phase at high spin are analyzed. The specific heat is shown to vanish linearly with temperature. In the spin-glass phase, intriguing connections between the equilibrium properties of the quantum problem and the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of classical models are pointed out.