The One-Dimensional ANNNI model in a Transverse Field: Analytic and numerical study of Effective Hamiltonians

We consider a spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ chain with competing nearest and next-nearest neighbor interactions within a transverse magnetic field, which is known to be an equiavelent to the ANNNI model. When studing thermodynamics of the 2D ANNNI model Villain and Bak arrived to a free fermion approximation that neglects heavy excitations from the ferromagnetic ground state, which is an appropriate description close to the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition. In the vicinity of the floating-phase/anti-phase transition another sort of quasiparticles, but free fermions too, appears to be convenient. Although free fermions are a suitable tool for investigation of the phase diagram and the critical properties, they are defined on the fictitious lattice which makes the analysis non-rigorous. Here we deal with a proper fermion scheme which is especially effective %devised to describe the floating-phase/anti-phase transition. for performing exact diagonalization calculations for cyclic chains. Systems up to size $L=32$ has been analysed and the predictions of the effective fermion Hamiltonian has been confirmed. Various predictions for the infinite system and the critical properties are derived.Comment: 30 RevTeX pages, 10 postscript figure

Spin nematics in the bilinear-biquadratic S=1 spin chain

We report the existence of an extended critical, nondimerized region in the phase diagram of the bilinear-biquadratic spin-one chain. The dominant power law correlations are ferroquadrupolar, i.e. spin nematic in character. Another known critical region is also characterized by dominant quadrupolar correlations, although with a different wave vector. Our results show that spin nematic correlations play an important role in quantum magnets with spin S >= 1 in regions between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Three-sublattice ordering of the SU(3) Heisenberg model of three-flavor fermions on the square and cubic lattices

Combining a semi-classical analysis with exact diagonalizations, we show that the ground state of the SU(3) Heisenberg model on the square lattice develops three-sublattice long-range order. This surprising pattern for a bipartite lattice with only nearest-neighbor interactions is shown to be the consequence of a subtle quantum order-by-disorder mechanism. By contrast, thermal fluctuations favor two-sublattice configurations via entropic selection. These results are shown to extend to the cubic lattice, and experimental implications for the Mott-insulating states of three-flavor fermionic atoms in optical lattices are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, references adde

Magnetic phases of spin-3/2 fermions on a spatially anisotropic square lattice

We study the magnetic phase diagram of spin-3/2 fermions in a spatially anisotropic square optical lattice at quarter filling (corresponding to one particle per lattice site). In the limit of the large on-site repulsion the system can be mapped to the so-called Sp(N) Heisenberg spin model with N=4. We analyze the Sp(N) spin model with the help of the large-N field-theoretical approach and show that the effective theory corresponds to the Sp(N) extension of the CP^{N-1} model, with the Lorentz invariance generically broken. We obtain the renormalization flow of the model couplings and show that although the Sp(N) terms are seemingly irrelevant, their presence leads to a renormalization of the CP^{N-1} part of the action, driving a phase transition. We further consider the influence of the external magnetic field (the quadratic Zeeman effect), and present the qualitative analysis of the ground state phase diagram.Comment: 10 Revtex pages, 5 figures; (v2) corrected the last paragraph in Appendix B and some typos; (v3) added references, extended discussion of the phase diagra

Magnetic Field Dependence of the Paramagnetic to the High Temperature Magnetically Ordered Phase Transition in CeB6

We have measured the magnetic field dependence of the paramagnetic to high temperature magnetically ordered phase transition TQ(H) in CeB6 from 2 to 30 T using cantilever magnetometry. It is found that the phase separation temperature continuously increases in field with an increasingly positive slope. In addition, we find that measurements in strong magnetic field gradients have no effect on the phase transition.Comment: 6 total page including 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review B (also available at http://publish.aps.org/eprint/gateway/eplist/aps1999dec08_006) v2: Corrected typos, added 1 reference, minor content changes (deleted 1 sentence in introduction, added 2 sentences in discussion to explain added reference), fixed the "et al"s in the bibliograph

Exact trimer ground states on a spin-1 chain

We construct a new spin-1 model on a chain. Its ground state is determined exactly which is three-fold degenerate by breaking translational invariance. Thus we have trimerization. Excited states cannot be obtained exactly, but we determine a few low-lying ones by using trial states, among them solitons

Crystal Field, Magnetic Anisotropy and Excitations in Rare-Earth Hexaborides

We clarify the role of crystalline electric field (CEF) induced magnetic anisotropy in the ground state and spin-wave spectrum of cubic rare-earth materials with dominating isotropic magnetic exchange interactions. In particular we study the hexaboride NdB_6 which is shown to exhibit strong spin-quadrupolar coupling. The CEF scheme is analyzed and a non-collinear magnetization response is found. The spin orientation in the antiferromagnetically ordered ground-state is identified. Moreover, the spin excitations are evaluated and in agreement with inelastic neutron scattering a suppression of one of the two magnetic modes in the strong-coupling regime is predicted.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps-figur

Concerning Order and Disorder in the Ensemble of Cu-O Chain Fragments in Oxygen Deficient Planes of Y-Ba-Cu-O

In connection with numerous X-ray and neutron investigations of some high temperature superconductors (YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ and related compounds) a non-trivial part of the structure factor, coming from partly disordered Cu-O-$\dots$-O-Cu chain fragments, situated within basal planes, CuO$_x$, can be a subject of theoretical interest. Closely connected to such a diffusive part of the structure factor are the correlation lengths, which are also available in neutron and X-ray diffraction studies and depend on a degree of oxygen disorder in a basal plane. The quantitative measure of such a disorder can be associated with temperature of a sample anneal, $T_q$, at which oxygen in a basal plane remains frozen-in high temperature equilibrium after a fast quench of a sample to room or lower temperature. The structure factor evolution with $x$ is vizualized in figures after the numerical calculations. The theoretical approach employed in the paper has been developed for the orthorhombic state of YBCO.Comment: Revtex, 27 pages, 14 PostScript figures upon request, ITP/GU/94/0

Centipede ladder at quarter filling

We study the ground state and excitation spectrum of a quasi one-dimensional nanostructure consisting of a pole and rungs oriented in the opposite directions ("centipede ladder", CL) at quarter filling. The spin and charge excitation spectra are found in the limits of small and large longitudinal hopping $t_\|$ compared to the on-rung hopping rate $t_\perp$ and exchange coupling $I_\perp$. At small $t_\|$ the system with ferromagnetic on-rung exchange demonstrates instability against dimerization. Coherent propagation of charge transfer excitons is possible in this limit. At large $t_\|$ CL behaves like two-orbital Hubbard chain, but the gap opens in the charge excitation spectrum thus reducing the symmetry from SU(4) to SU(2). The spin excitations are always gapless and their dispersion changes from quadratic magnon-like for ferromagnetic on-rung exchange to linear spinon-like for antiferromagnetic on-rung exchange in weak longitudinal hopping limit.Comment: 10 pages, 7 eps figure

Fluctuation Effects on the Quadrupolar Ordering in Magnetic Field

Effects of magnetic field on the quadrupolar ordering are investigated with inclusion of fluctuation of order parameters. For the simplest model with the nearest-neighbor quadrupolar interaction, the transition temperature and the specific heat are derived by the use of the recently proposed effective medium theory. It is shown that magnetic field H has two competing effects on the quadrupolar ordering; one is to encourage the ordering by suppressing the fluctuation among different components of order parameters, and the other is to block the ordering as in antiferromagnets. The former is found to be of order H^2 and the latter of order H^4. Hence the fluctuation is suppressed for weak fields, and the transition temperature increases with magnetic field. The fluctuation effect is so strong that the entropy released at the quadrupolar ordering is only about half of the full value ln 4 even without the Kondo effect.Comment: 10 pages including 3 Postscript figure