A two-channel Kondo impurity in the spin-1/2 chain: Consequences for Knight shift experiments

A magnetic impurity in the spin-1/2 chain is a simple realization of the two-channel Kondo problem since the field theoretical descriptions in the spin-sector are identical. The correlation functions near the impurity can be calculated. Using a modified version of the numerical transfer matrix DMRG, we are able to accurately determine local properties close to the impurity in the thermodynamic limit. The local susceptibilities (Knight-shifts) show an interesting behavior in a large range around the impurities. We are able to make quantitative experimental predictions which would allow to observe two-channel Kondo physics for the first time directly by doping of spin-1/2 chain compounds.Comment: 2 pages in revtex format including 2 embedded figures (using epsf

Quantum Phase Transition in a Resonant Level Coupled to Interacting Leads

An interacting one-dimensional electron system, the Luttinger liquid, is distinct from the "conventional" Fermi liquids formed by interacting electrons in two and three dimensions. Some of its most spectacular properties are revealed in the process of electron tunneling: as a function of the applied bias or temperature the tunneling current demonstrates a non-trivial power-law suppression. Here, we create a system which emulates tunneling in a Luttinger liquid, by controlling the interaction of the tunneling electron with its environment. We further replace a single tunneling barrier with a double-barrier resonant level structure and investigate resonant tunneling between Luttinger liquids. For the first time, we observe perfect transparency of the resonant level embedded in the interacting environment, while the width of the resonance tends to zero. We argue that this unique behavior results from many-body physics of interacting electrons and signals the presence of a quantum phase transition (QPT). In our samples many parameters, including the interaction strength, can be precisely controlled; thus, we have created an attractive model system for studying quantum critical phenomena in general. Our work therefore has broadly reaching implications for understanding QPTs in more complex systems, such as cold atoms and strongly correlated bulk materials.Comment: 11 pages total (main text + supplementary

A Kondo impurity in one dimensional correlated conduction electrons

A spin-1/2 magnetic impurity coupled to a one-dimensional correlated electron system have been studied by applying the density renormalization group method. The Kondo temperature is substantially enhanced by strong repulsive interactions in the chain, but changes non-monotonically in the case of electron attraction. The magnetization of the impurity at zero- temperature shows local Fermi liquid behavior.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figures; ps-file

Spectral properties of one dimensional insulators and superconductors

Conformal field theory and Bethe ansatz are used to investigate the low energy features of the spectral function in one dimensional models which exhibit a gap in the spin or in the charge excitation spectrum. Exotic behavior is found in the superconducting case, where the Green function displays momentum dependent Luttinger Liquid exponents. The predictions of the formalism are confirmed by Lanczos diagonalizations in the $tJ$ model up to 32 sites. These results may be relevant in connection to photoemission experiments in quasi one dimensional insulators or superconductors.Comment: 11 pages , RevTeX , 3 uuencoded picture

The continuum limit of the integrable open XYZ spin-1/2 chain

We show that the continuum limit of the integrable XYZ spin-1/2 chain on a half-line gives rise to the boundary sine-Gordon theory using the perturbation method.Comment: 8pages, LaTeX; typos in eq.(11) removed, one in reference correcte

Non-Hermitian Luttinger Liquids and Vortex Physics

As a model of two thermally excited flux liquids connected by a weak link, we study the effect of a single line defect on vortex filaments oriented parallel to the surface of a thin planar superconductor. When the applied field is tilted relative to the line defect, the physics is described by a nonhermitian Luttinger liquid of interacting quantum bosons in one spatial dimension with a point defect. We analyze this problem using a combination of analytic and numerical density matrix renormalization group methods, uncovering a delicate interplay between enhancement of pinning due to Luttinger liquid effects and depinning due to the tilted magnetic field. Interactions dramatically improve the ability of a single columnar pin to suppress vortex tilt when the Luttinger liquid parameter g is less than or equal to one.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figures, minor changes made, one reference adde