Spin and charge order in Mott insulators and d-wave superconductors

We argue that aspects of the anomalous, low temperature, spin and charge dynamics of the high temperature superconductors can be understood by studying the corresponding physics of undoped Mott insulators. Such insulators display a quantum transition from a magnetically ordered Néel state to a confining paramagnet with a spin gap; the latter state has bond-centered charge order, a low energy S=1 spin exciton, confinement of S=1/2 spinons, and a free S=1/2 moment near non-magnetic impurities. We discuss how these characteristics, and the quantum phase transitions, evolve upon doping the insulator into a d-wave superconductor. This theoretical framework was used to make a number of predictions for STM measurements and for the phase diagram of the doped Mott insulator in an applied magnetic field.     

Monte-Carlo study of correlations in quantum spin chains at non-zero temperature

Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chains with various spin values (S=1/2,1,3/2,2,5/2) are studied numerically with the quantum Monte-Carlo method. Effective spin S chains are realized by ferromagnetically coupling n=2S antiferromagnetic spin chains with S=1/2. The temperature dependence of the uniform susceptibility, the staggered susceptibility, and the static structure factor peak intensity are computed down to very low temperatures, . The correlation length at each temperature is deduced from numerical measurements of the instantaneous spin-spin correlation function. At high temperatures, very good agreement with exact results for the classical spin chain is obtained independent of the value of S. For the S=2 chain which has a gap , the correlation length and the uniform susceptibility in the temperature range are well predicted by the semi-classical theory of Damle and Sachdev. Received: 23 December 1997 / Revised and Accepted: 11 March 1998     

First excitations of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice

We study the exact low energy spectra of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on small samples of the kagomé lattice of up to N=36 sites. In agreement with the conclusions of previous authors, we find that these low energy spectra contradict the hypothesis of Néel type long range order. Certainly, the ground state of this system is a spin liquid, but its properties are rather unusual. The magnetic () excitations are separated from the ground state by a gap. However, this gap is filled with nonmagnetic () excitations. In the thermodynamic limit the spectrum of these nonmagnetic excitations will presumably develop into a gapless continuum adjacent to the ground state. Surprisingly, the eigenstates of samples with an odd number of sites, i.e. samples with an unsaturated spin, exhibit symmetries which could support long range chiral order. We do not know if these states will be true thermodynamic states or only metastable ones. In any case, the low energy properties of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice clearly distinguish this system from either a short range RVB spin liquid or a standard chiral spin liquid. Presumably they are facets of a generically new state of frustrated two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets. Received: 27 November 1997 / Accepted: 29 January 1998     

Thermodynamics of the quantum and classical Ising models with skew magnetic field

The thermodynamics of the unitary (normalized spin) quantum and classical Ising models with skew magnetic field, for |J|β?0.9, is derived for the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases. The high-temperature expansion (β-expansion) of the Helmholtz free energy is calculated up to order β⁷ for the quantum version (spin S≥1/2) and up to order β¹⁹ for the classical version. In contrast to the S=1/2 case, the thermodynamics of the transverse Ising and that of the XY model for S>1/2 are not equivalent. Moreover, the critical line of the T=0 classical antiferromagnetic Ising model with skew magnetic field is absent from this classical model, at least in the temperature range of |J|β?0.9.     

Quantum XY spin glass model with planar Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in longitudinal field

In the replica symmetric approximation and static limit in Matsubara “imaginary time”, the quantum XY spin glass model with planar Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in longitudinal field is investigated. Several thermodynamic quantities are calculated numerically as well as spin self-interaction and spin glass order parameter for spin S=1/2. It is shown that the entropy is not independent of the field. A crossover behavior of the specific heat depending on temperature is found. There is a deviation from the parabolic approximation, C/T=A+Bh ² . Received 11 March 1998     

Transport through artificial single-molecule magnets: Spin-pair state sequential tunneling and Kondo effects

The transport properties of an artificial single-molecule magnet based on a CdTe quantum dot doped with a single Mn+2 ion(S=5/2) are investigated by the non-equilibrium Green function method.We consider a minimal model where the Mn-hole exchange coupling is strongly anisotropic so that spin-flip is suppressed and the impurity spin S and a hole spin s entering the quantum dot are coupled into spin pair states with(2S+1) sublevels.In the sequential tunneling regime,the differential conductance exhibits(2S+1) possible peaks,corresponding to resonance tunneling via(2S+1) sublevels.At low temperature,Kondo physics dominates transport and(2S+1) Kondo peaks occur in the local density of states and conductance.These peaks originate from the spin-singlet state formed by the holes in the leads and on the dot via higher-order processes and are related to the parallel and antiparallel spin pair states.     

Skyrmion burst and multiple quantum walk in thin ferromagnetic films

We propose a new type of quantum walk in thin ferromagnetic films. A giant Skyrmion collapses to a singular point in a thin ferromagnetic film, emitting spin waves, when external magnetic field is increased beyond the critical one. After the collapse the remnant is a quantum walker carrying spin S. We determine its time evolution and show the diffusion process is a continuous-time quantum walk. We also analyze an interference of two quantum walkers after two Skyrmion bursts. The system presents a new type of quantum walk for S>1/2, where a quantum walker breaks into 2S quantum walkers.     

Low temperature thermodynamics of inverse square spin models in one dimension

We present a field-theoretic renormalization group calculation in two loop order for classical O(N)-models with an inverse square interaction in the vicinity of their lower critical dimensionality one. The magnetic susceptibility at low temperatures is shown to diverge like with a=(N-2)/(N-1) and . From a comparison with the exactly solvable Haldane-Shastry model we find that the same temperature dependence applies also to ferromagnetic quantum spin chains. Received: 20 February 1998 / Revised: 27 April 1998 / Accepted: 30 April 1998     

Spin correlations in the two-dimensional spin-5/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We report a neutron scattering study of the instantaneous spin correlations in the two-dimensional spin S =5/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Rb₂MnF₄. The measured correlation lengths are quantitatively described, with no adjustable parameters, by high-temperature series expansion results and by a theory based on the quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation. Conversely, we find that the data, which cover the range from about 1 to 50 lattice constants, are outside of the regime corresponding to renormalized classical behavior of the quantum non-linear model. In addition, we observe a crossover from Heisenberg to Ising critical behavior near the Néel temperature; this crossover is well described by a mean-field model with no adjustable parameters. Received: 3 March 1998 / Received in final form: 4 May 1998 / Accepted: 19 May 1998     

Quantum rotors with regular frustration and the quantum Lifshitz point

We have discussed the zero-temperature quantum phase transition in n-component quantum rotor Hamiltonian in the presence of regular frustration in the interaction. The phase diagram consists of ferromagnetic, helical and quantum paramagnetic phase, where the ferro-para and the helical-para phase boundary meets at a multicritical point called a (d,m) quantum Lifshitz point where (d,m) indicates that the m of the d spatial dimensions incorporate frustration. We have studied the Hamiltonian in the vicinity of the quantum Lifshitz point in the spherical limit and also studied the renormalisation group flow behaviour using standard momentum space renormalisation technique (for finite n). In the spherical limit ()one finds that the helical phase does not exist in the presence of any nonvanishing quantum fluctuation for m =d though the quantum Lifshitz point exists for all d > 1+m/2, and the upper critical dimensionality is given by d _u = 3 +m/2. The scaling behaviour in the neighbourhood of a quantum Lifshitz point in d dimensions is consistent with the behaviour near the classical Lifshitz point in (d+z) dimensions. The dynamical exponent of the quantum Hamiltonian z is unity in the case of anisotropic Lifshitz point (d>m) whereas z=2 in the case of isotropic Lifshitz point (d=m). We have evaluated all the exponents using the renormalisation flow equations along-with the scaling relations near the quantum Lifshitz point. We have also obtained the exponents in the spherical limit (). It has also been shown that the exponents in the spherical model are all related to those of the corresponding Gaussian model by Fisher renormalisation. Received: 23 December 1997 / Received in final form: 6 January 1998 / Accepted: 7 January 1998     

Perturbation theory for the triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet with Ising-like anisotropy

It has been argued that the case of strong uniaxial anisotropy is especially favourable for the formation of a spin-liquid state in theS=1/2 triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet [77]. We reconsider the old arguments using up-to-date numerical techniques, and extend the study to general values ofS. Recent progress in the understanding of this frustrated quantum spin system sheds light on the question why the original arguments in favour of an RVB state can not be conclusive. Our present results indicate that the tendency towards three-sublattice ordering is much stronger than it had been thought. However, the caseS=1/2 is still seen to be set apart from the casesS>1/2, and forS=1/2 the existence of true longrange order in the ground state remains debatable.     

Quasiclassical Hamiltonians for large-spin systems

We extend and apply a previously developed method for a semiclassical treatment of a system with large spin S. A multisite Heisenberg Hamiltonian is transformed into an effective classical Hamilton function which can be treated by standard methods for classical systems. Quantum effects enter in form of multispin interactions in the Hamilton function. The latter is written in the form of an expansion in powers of J/(TS), where J is the coupling constant. Main ingredients of our method are spin coherent states and cumulants. Rules and diagrams are derived for computing cumulants of groups of operators entering the Hamiltonian. The theory is illustrated by calculating the quantum corrections to the free energy of a Heisenberg chain which were previously computed by a Wigner-Kirkwood expansion. Received 5 May 1999 and received in final form 24 September 1999     

Critical exponents of random XX and XY chains: Exact results via random walks

We study random XY and (dimerized) XX spin-1/2 quantum spin chains at their quantum phase transition driven by the anisotropy and dimerization, respectively. Using exact expressions for magnetization, correlation functions and energy gap, obtained by the free fermion technique, the critical and off-critical (Griffiths-McCoy) singularities are related to persistence properties of random walks. In this way we determine exactly the decay exponents for surface and bulk transverse and longitudinal correlations, correlation length exponent and dynamical exponent. Received 26 September 1999     

Quantized magnetic flux through the ground-state orbit of the hydrogen atom

We have investigated the spin-dependent quantized magnetic fluxes through the ground-state electronic orbit of the hydrogen atom. We show that the corresponding fluxes are (1/2)Φ₀ for the spin-up case and (3/2)Φ ₀ for the spin-down case, respectively, where Φ₀ = hc/e is the flux quantum. Using the energy-flux proportionality, we also show that the spin-up case (where the electron spin is antiparallel to the proton spin, resulting in zero total spin) is the spin-dependent ground state of the hydrogen atom. The present result helps to understand the spin flip-flop in excitonic transitions in nanostructures.     

Quantum HeisenbergS=1/2 spin glass with ferromagnetic coupling and random Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions

By means of the generalized static replica symmetric spin glass theory, a quantum HeisenbergS=1/2 spin glass model with the infinite-ranged random Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction and ferromagnetic coupling is investigated. The dependence of entropy, specific heat, susceptibility and the corresponding order parameters on temperature is studied numerically for different ferromagnetic interactions and fixed anisotropy. Two spin glass phases has been found including transverse and mixed spin glass phases. It has been shown that the local susceptibility exhibits double-cusp features for different ferromagnetic coupling (J ₀). Phase transition poins are found in the specific heat-temperature plane at various ferromagnetic coupling values. Additionally, the dependence of the spontaneous moment on temperature is calculated.     

Zero temperature phase transitions in spin-ladders: Phase diagram and dynamical studies of Cu2(C5H12N2)2Cl4>

In a magnetic field, spin-ladders undergo two zero-temperature phase transitions at the critical fields H_c1 and H_c2. An experimental review of static and dynamical properties of spin-ladders close to these critical points is presented. The scaling functions, universal to all quantum critical points in one-dimension, are extracted from (a) the thermodynamic quantities (magnetization) and (b) the dynamical functions (NMR relaxation). A simple mapping of strongly coupled spin ladders in a magnetic field on the exactly solvable XXZ model enables to make detailed fits and gives an overall understanding of a broad class of quantum magnets in their gapless phase (between H_c1 and H_c2). In this phase, the low temperature divergence of the NMR relaxation demonstrates its Luttinger liquid nature as well as the novel quantum critical regime at higher temperature. The general behavior close these quantum critical points can be tied to known models of quantum magnetism. Received: 13 March 1998 / Received in final form and Accepted: 21 July 1998     

Characterization of ferrimagnetic Heisenberg chains according to the constituent spins

The low-energy structure and the thermodynamic properties of ferrimagnetic Heisenberg chains of alternating spins S and s are investigated by the use of numerical tools as well as the spin-wave theory. The elementary excitations are calculated through an efficient quantum Monte Carlo technique featuring imaginary-time correlation functions and are characterized in terms of interacting spin waves. The thermal behavior is analyzed with particular emphasis on its ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic dual aspect. The extensive numerical and analytic calculations lead to the classification of the one-dimensional ferrimagnetic behavior according to the constituent spins: the ferromagnetic (S>2s), antiferromagnetic (S<2s), and balanced (S=2s) ferrimagnetism. Received 27 August 1999 and Received in final form 15 November 1999     

Quantum fluctuations in Sine-Gordon like magnetic chains: Corrections to soliton energies

The effect of quantum fluctuations on solitons in the easy-plane ferromagnetic chain is considered within the semiclassical approximation. In accordance with the low temperature ideal gas picture we treat the solitons as a Boltzmann gas and impose quantisation on the spin wave spectrum. We present a method which allows to calculate quantum corrections in a systematic perturbation expansion in 1/S, whereS is the spin length. We use this method to obtain the soliton energy to second order at zero temperature. Our results indicate that the semiclassical approach reasonably describes quantum effects on soliton properties.     

On the dynamics of a quantum system which is classically chaotic

We investigate the dynamics of one anisotropic spin in an external time-dependent magnetic field. The classical dynamics of the system is nonintegrable (and very similar to the standard map). We present results on this model for a quantum spin (i.e. for finite values of the spin lengthS). In particular we discuss the semiclassical regime,S1, using the concept of Wigner functions to define a suitable probability distribution. In regular regions of phase space the time evolution of the probability distribution shows an algebraic decay of correlations as in quantum mechanics. In chaotic regions of phase space it is characterised by a positive Lyapunov exponent which depends onS. In these regions semiclassical trajectories coincide with classical ones fort <₀ where ₀InS.