331 research outputs found
Quantum disorder versus order-out-of-disorder in the Kugel-Khomskii model
The Kugel-Khomskii model, the simplest model for orbital degenerate magnetic
insulators, exhibits a zero temperature degeneracy in the classical limit which
could cause genuine quantum disorder. Khaliullin and Oudovenko [Phys. Rev. B
56, R14 243 (1997)] suggested recently that instead a particular classical
state could be stabilized by quantum fluctuations. Here we compare their
approach with standard random phase approximation and show that it strongly
underestimates the strength of the quantum fluctuations, shedding doubts on the
survival of any classical state.Comment: 4 pages, ReVTeX, 4 figure
Spin and orbital excitation spectrum in the Kugel-Khomskii model
We discuss spin and orbital ordering in the twofold orbital degenerate
superexchange model in three dimensions relevant to perovskite transition metal
oxides. We focus on the particular point on the classical phase diagram where
orbital degeneracy is lifted by quantum effects exclusively. Dispersion and
damping of the spin and orbital excitations are calculated at this point taking
into account their mutual interaction. Interaction corrections to the
mean-field order parameters are found to be small. We conclude that
quasi-one-dimensional Neel spin order accompanied by the uniform
d_{3z^2-r^2}-type orbital ordering is stable against quantum fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages with 3 PS figures, 1 table, RevTeX, accepted to Phys. Rev. B.
Rapid Communicatio
Orbital dynamics in ferromagnetic transition metal oxides
We consider a model of strongly correlated electrons interacting by
superexchange orbital interactions in the ferromagnetic phase of LaMnO. It
is found that the classical orbital order with alternating occupied
orbitals has a full rotational symmetry at orbital degeneracy, and the
excitation spectrum derived using the linear spin-wave theory is gapless. The
quantum (fluctuation) corrections to the order parameter and to the ground
state energy restore the cubic symmetry of the model. By applying a uniaxial
pressure orbital degeneracy is lifted in a tetragonal field and one finds an
orbital-flop phase with a gap in the excitation spectrum. In two dimensions the
classical order is more robust near the orbital degeneracy point and quantum
effects are suppressed. The orbital excitation spectra obtained using finite
temperature diagonalization of two-dimensional clusters consist of a
quasiparticle accompanied by satellite structures. The orbital waves found
within the linear spin-wave theory provide an excellent description of the
dominant pole of these spectra.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Elementary excitations of the symmetric spin-orbital model: The XY limit
The elementary excitations of the 1D, symmetric, spin-orbital model are
investigated by studying two anisotropic versions of the model, the pure XY and
the dimerized XXZ case, with analytical and numerical methods. While they
preserve the symmetry between spin and orbital degrees of freedom, these models
allow for a simple and transparent picture of the low--lying excitations: In
the pure XY case, a phase separation takes place between two phases with
free--fermion like, gapless excitations, while in the dimerized case, the
low-energy effective Hamiltonian reduces to the 1D Ising model with gapped
excitations. In both cases, all the elementary excitations involve simultaneous
flips of the spin and orbital degrees of freedom, a clear indication of the
breakdown of the traditional mean-field theory.Comment: Revtex, two figure
Orbital liquid in ferromagnetic manganites: The orbital Hubbard model for electrons
We have analyzed the symmetry properties and the ground state of an orbital
Hubbard model with two orbital flavors, describing a partly filled
spin-polarized band on a cubic lattice, as in ferromagnetic manganites.
We demonstrate that the off-diagonal hopping responsible for transitions
between and orbitals, and the absence of SU(2) invariance
in orbital space, have important implications. One finds that superexchange
contributes in all orbital ordered states, the Nagaoka theorem does not apply,
and the kinetic energy is much enhanced as compared with the spin case.
Therefore, orbital ordered states are harder to stabilize in the Hartree-Fock
approximation (HFA), and the onset of a uniform ferro-orbital polarization and
antiferro-orbital instability are similar to each other, unlike in spin case.
Next we formulate a cubic (gauge) invariant slave boson approach using the
orbitals with complex coefficients. In the mean-field approximation it leads to
the renormalization of the kinetic energy, and provides a reliable estimate for
the ground state energy of the disordered state. Using this approach one finds
that the HFA fails qualitatively in the regime of large Coulomb repulsion
-- the orbital order is unstable, and instead a strongly
correlated orbital liquid with disordered orbitals is realized at any electron
filling.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figure
Orbital order in classical models of transition-metal compounds
We study the classical 120-degree and related orbital models. These are the
classical limits of quantum models which describe the interactions among
orbitals of transition-metal compounds. We demonstrate that at low temperatures
these models exhibit a long-range order which arises via an "order by disorder"
mechanism. This strongly indicates that there is orbital ordering in the
quantum version of these models, notwithstanding recent rigorous results on the
absence of spin order in these systems.Comment: 7 pages, 1 eps fi
Orbital order out of spin disorder: How to measure the orbital gap
The interplay between spin and orbital degrees of freedom in the Mott-Hubbard
insulator is studied by considering an orbitally degenerate superexchange
model. We argue that orbital order and the orbital excitation gap in this model
are generated through the order-from-disorder mechanism known previously from
frustrated spin models. We propose that the orbital gap should show up
indirectly in the dynamical spin structure factor; it can therefore be measured
using the conventional inelastic neutron scattering method
Thermodynamics of the one-dimensional SU(4) symmetric spin-orbital model
The ground state properties and the thermodynamics of the one-dimensional
SU(4) symmetric spin system with orbital degeneracy are investigated using the
quantum Monte Carlo loop algorithm. The spin-spin correlation functions exhibit
a 4-site periodicity, and their low temperature behavior is controlled by two
correlation lengths that diverge like the inverse temperature, while the
entropy is linear in temperature and its slope is consistent with three gapless
modes of velocity . The physical implications of these results are
discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTe
Exact Ground States in Spin Systems with Orbital Degeneracy
We present exact ground states in spin models with orbital generacy in one
and higher dimensions. A method to obtain the exact ground states of the models
when the Hamiltonians are composed of the products of two commutable operators
is proposed. For the case of the spin-1/2 model with two-fold degeneracy some
exact ground states are given, such as the Valence-Bond (VB), the magnetically
ordered, and the orbitally ordered states under particular parameter regimes.
We also find the models with the higher spin and degeneracy which have the new
types of VB ground states in the spin and the orbital sectors.Comment: 4 pages(JPSJ.sty), 2 figures(EPS), to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.
68, No.2 (1999) 32
Suppression of static stripe formation by next-neighbor hopping
We show from real-space Hartree-Fock calculations within the extended Hubbard
model that next-nearest neighbor (t') hopping processes act to suppress the
formation of static charge stripes. This result is confirmed by investigating
the evolution of charge-inhomogeneous corral and stripe phases with increasing
t' of both signs. We propose that large t' values in YBCO prevent static stripe
formation, while anomalously small t' in LSCO provides an additional reason for
the appearance of static stripes only in these systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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