A Schwinger-boson approach to the kagome with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions: phase diagram and dynamical structure factors

We have obtained the zero-temperature phase diagram of the kagome antiferromagnet with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in Schwinger-boson mean-field theory. We find quantum phase transitions (first or second order) between different topological spin liquids and Neel ordered phases (either the $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ state or the so-called Q=0 state). In the regime of small Schwinger-boson density, the results bear some resemblances with exact diagonalization results and we briefly discuss some issues of the mean-field treatment. We calculate the equal-time structure factor (and its angular average to allow for a direct comparison with experiments on powder samples), which extends earlier work on the classical kagome to the quantum regime. We also discuss the dynamical structure factors of the topological spin liquid and the Neel ordered phase.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Spectral weight redistribution in strongly correlated bosons in optical lattices

We calculate the single-particle spectral function for the one-band Bose-Hubbard model within the random phase approximation (RPA). In the strongly correlated superfluid, in addition to the gapless phonon excitations, we find extra gapped modes which become particularly relevant near the superfluid-Mott quantum phase transition (QPT). The strength in one of the gapped modes, a precursor of the Mott phase, grows as the QPT is approached and evolves into a hole (particle) excitation in the Mott insulator depending on whether the chemical potential is above (below) the tip of the lobe. The sound velocity of the Goldstone modes remains finite when the transition is approached at a constant density, otherwise, it vanishes at the transition. It agrees well with Bogoliubov theory except close to the transition. We also calculate the spatial correlations for bosons in an inhomogeneous trapping potential creating alternating shells of Mott insulator and superfluid. Finally, we discuss the capability of the RPA approximation to correctly account for quantum fluctuations in the vicinity of the QPT.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure

Controlling Spin Exchange Interactions of Ultracold Atoms in Optical Lattices

We describe a general technique that allows to induce and control strong interaction between spin states of neighboring atoms in an optical lattice. We show that the properties of spin exchange interactions, such as magnitude, sign, and anisotropy can be designed by adjusting the optical potentials. We illustrate how this technique can be used to efficiently ``engineer'' quantum spin systems with desired properties, for specific examples ranging from scalable quantum computation to probing a model with non-trivial topological orders that supports exotic non-abelian anyonic excitations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, revte

Spin 3/2 dimer model

We present a parent Hamiltonian for weakly dimerized valence bond solid states for arbitrary half-integral S. While the model reduces for S=1/2 to the Majumdar-Ghosh Hamiltonian we discuss this model and its properties for S=3/2. Its degenerate ground state is the most popular toy model state for discussing dimerization in spin 3/2 chains. In particular, it describes the impurity induced dimer phase in Cr8Ni as proposed recently. We point out that the explicit construction of the Hamiltonian and its main features apply to arbitrary half-integral spin S.Comment: 5+ pages, 6 figures; to appear in Europhysics Letter

Distribution of Resonance Widths and Dynamics of Continuum Coupling

We analyze the statistics of resonance widths in a many-body Fermi system with open decay channels. Depending on the strength of continuum coupling, such a system reveals growing deviations from the standard chi-square (Porter-Thomas) width distribution. The deviations emerge from the process of increasing interaction of intrinsic states through common decay channels; in the limit of perfect coupling this process leads to the super-radiance phase transition. The width distribution depends also on the intrinsic dynamics (chaotic vs regular). The results presented here are important for understanding the recent experimental data concerning the width distribution for neutron resonances in nuclei.Comment: 5 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Architecture of coatomer: Molecular characterization of delta-COP and protein interactions within the complex

Copyright © 2011 by The Rockefeller University Press.Coatomer is a cytosolic protein complex that forms the coat of COP I-coated transport vesicles. In our attempt to analyze the physical and functional interactions between its seven subunits (coat proteins, [COPs] alpha-zeta), we engaged in a program to clone and characterize the individual coatomer subunits. We have now cloned, sequenced, and overexpressed bovine alpha-COP, the 135-kD subunit of coatomer as well as delta-COP, the 57-kD subunit and have identified a yeast homolog of delta-COP by cDNA sequence comparison and by NH2-terminal peptide sequencing. delta-COP shows homologies to subunits of the clathrin adaptor complexes AP1 and AP2. We show that in Golgi-enriched membrane fractions, the protein is predominantly found in COP I-coated transport vesicles and in the budding regions of the Golgi membranes. A knock-out of the delta-COP gene in yeast is lethal. Immunoprecipitation, as well as analysis exploiting the two-hybrid system in a complete COP screen, showed physical interactions between alpha- and epsilon-COPs and between beta- and delta-COPs. Moreover, the two-hybrid system indicates interactions between gamma- and zeta-COPs as well as between alpha- and beta' COPs. We propose that these interactions reflect in vivo associations of those subunits and thus play a functional role in the assembly of coatomer and/or serve to maintain the molecular architecture of the complex.This work was supported by The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 352), the Human Frontier Science Program, and the Swiss National Science Foundation No. 31-43366.95

Self-consistent spin-wave theory for a frustrated Heisenberg model with biquadratic exchange in the columnar phase and its application to iron pnictides

Recent neutron scattering studies revealed the three dimensional character of the magnetism in the iron pnictides and a strong anisotropy between the exchange perpendicular and parallel to the spin stripes. We extend studies of the J1-J2-Jc Heisenberg model with S = 1 using self-consistent spin-wave theory. A discussion of two scenarios for the instability of the columnar phase is provided. The relevance of a biquadratic exchange term between in-plane nearest neighbors is discussed. We introduce mean-field decouplings for biquadratic terms using the Dyson-Maleev and the Schwinger boson representation. Remarkably their respective mean-field theories do not lead to the same results, even at zero temperature. They are gauged in the N'eel phase in comparison to exact diagonalization and series expansion. The J1-J2-Jc model is analyzed under the influence of the biquadratic exchange Jbq and a detailed description of the staggered magnetization and of the magnetic excitations is given. The biquadratic exchange increases the renormalization of the in-plane exchange constants which enhances the anisotropy between the exchange parallel and perpendicular to the spin stripes. Applying the model to iron pnictides, it is possible to reproduce the spin-wave dispersion for CaFe2As2 in the direction perpendicular to the spin stripes and perpendicular to the planes. Discrepancies remain in the direction parallel to the spin stripes which can be resolved by passing from S = 1 to S = 2. In addition, results for the dynamical structure factor within the self-consistent spin-wave theory are provided.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures. Updated version, several references adde

Superconductivity and Quantum Spin Disorder in Cuprates

A fundamental connection between superconductivity and quantum spin fluctuations in underdoped cuprates, is revealed. A variational calculation shows that {\em Cooper pair hopping} strongly reduces the local magnetization $m_0$. This effect pertains to recent neutron scattering and muon spin rotation measurements in which $m_0$ varies weakly with hole doping in the poorly conducting regime, but drops precipitously above the onset of superconductivity

On the Path Integral Representation for Spin Systems

We propose a classical constrained Hamiltonian theory for the spin. After the Dirac treatment we show that due to the existence of second class constraints the Dirac brackets of the proposed theory represent the commutation relations for the spin. We show that the corresponding partition function, obtained via the Fadeev-Senjanovic procedure, coincides with the one obtained using coherent states. We also evaluate this partition function for the case of a single spin in a magnetic field.Comment: To be published in J.Phys. A: Math. and Gen. Latex file, 12 page

Composite bosons in bilayer nu = 1 system: An application of the Murthy-Shankar formalism

We calculate the dispersion of the out-of-phase mode characteristic for the bilayer nu = 1 quantum Hall system applying the version of Chern-Simons theory of Murthy and Shankar that cures the unwanted bare electron mass dependence in the low-energy description of quantum Hall systems. The obtained value for the mode when d, distance between the layers, is zero is in a good agreement with the existing pseudospin picture of the system. For d nonzero but small we find that the mode is linearly dispersing and its velocity to a good approximation depends linearly on d. This is in agreement with the Hartree-Fock calculations of the pseudospin picture that predicts a linear dependance on d, and contrary to the naive Hartree predictions with dependence on the square-root of d. We set up a formalism that enables one to consider fluctuations around the found stationary point values. In addition we address the case of imbalanced layers in the Murthy-Shankar formalism.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur