Effects of domain walls on hole motion in the two-dimensional t-J model at finite temperature

The t-J model on the square lattice, close to the t-J_z limit, is studied by quantum Monte Carlo techniques at finite temperature and in the underdoped regime. A variant of the Hoshen-Koppelman algorithm was implemented to identify the antiferromagnetic domains on each Trotter slice. The results show that the model presents at high enough temperature finite antiferromagnetic (AF) domains which collapse at lower temperatures into a single ordered AF state. While there are domains, holes would tend to preferentially move along the domain walls. In this case, there are indications of hole pairing starting at a relatively high temperature. At lower temperatures, when the whole system becomes essentially fully AF ordered, at least in finite clusters, holes would likely tend to move within phase separated regions. The crossover between both states moves down in temperature as doping increases and/or as the off-diagonal exchange increases. The possibility of hole motion along AF domain walls at zero temperature in the fully isotropic t-J is discussed.Comment: final version, to appear in Physical Review

Mean field approach to antiferromagnetic domains in the doped Hubbard model

We present a restricted path integral approach to the 2D and 3D repulsive Hubbard model. In this approach the partition function is approximated by restricting the summation over all states to a (small) subclass which is chosen such as to well represent the important states. This procedure generalizes mean field theory and can be systematically improved by including more states or fluctuations. We analyze in detail the simplest of these approximations which corresponds to summing over states with local antiferromagnetic (AF) order. If in the states considered the AF order changes sufficiently little in space and time, the path integral becomes a finite dimensional integral for which the saddle point evaluation is exact. This leads to generalized mean field equations allowing for the possibility of more than one relevant saddle points. In a big parameter regime (both in temperature and filling), we find that this integral has {\em two} relevant saddle points, one corresponding to finite AF order and the other without. These degenerate saddle points describe a phase of AF ordered fermions coexisting with free, metallic fermions. We argue that this mixed phase is a simple mean field description of a variety of possible inhomogeneous states, appropriate on length scales where these states appear homogeneous. We sketch systematic refinements of this approximation which can give more detailed descriptions of the system.Comment: 14 pages RevTex, 6 postscript figures included using eps

Thermodynamic and thermoelectric properties of high-temperature cuprate superconductors in the stripe phase

We examine the thermodynamic and thermoelectric properties in the stripe phase of high-Tc cuprates, by using the finite-temperature Lanczos technique for the t-J model with a potential that stabilizes vertical charge stripes. When the stripe potential is turned on, the entropy is suppressed as a consequence of the formation of one-dimensional charge stripes accompanied by an enhancement of antiferromagnetic spin correlation in the spin domains. The stripe formation leads also to weak temperature dependence of the chemical potential, leading to the suppression of the thermoelectric power. The suppression of the entropy and thermoelectric power is consistent with experimental data in the stripe phase of La_{1.6-x}Nd_{0.4}Sr_xCuO_4.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys.Rev.B Rapid Comm

Stripes and holes in a two-dimensional model of spinless fermions and hardcore bosons

We consider a Hubbard-like model of strongly-interacting spinless fermions and hardcore bosons on a square lattice, such that nearest neighbor occupation is forbidden. Stripes (lines of holes across the lattice forming antiphase walls between ordered domains) are a favorable way to dope this system below half-filling. The problem of a single stripe can be mapped to a spin-1/2 chain, which allows understanding of its elementary excitations and calculation of the stripe's effective mass for transverse vibrations. Using Lanczos exact diagonalization, we investigate the excitation gap and dispersion of a hole on a stripe, and the interaction of two holes. We also study the interaction of two, three, and four stripes, finding that they repel, and the interaction energy decays with stripe separation as if they are hardcore particles moving in one (transverse) direction. To determine the stability of an array of stripes against phase separation into particle-rich phase and hole-rich liquid, we evaluate the liquid's equation of state, finding the stripe-array is not stable for bosons but is possibly stable for fermions.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figure

Study of High-Spin States and Three-Quasiparticle (p,π) Transitions on Light Targets

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 87-1440

Local versus Nonlocal Order Parameter Field Theories for Quantum Phase Transitions

General conditions are formulated that allow to determine which quantum phase transitions in itinerant electron systems can be described by a local Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson or LGW theory solely in terms of the order parameter. A crucial question is the degree to which the order parameter fluctuations couple to other soft modes. Three general classes of zero-wavenumber order parameters, in the particle-hole spin-singlet and spin-triplet channels, and in the particle-particle channel, respectively, are considered. It is shown that the particle-hole spin-singlet class does allow for a local LGW theory, while the other two classes do not. The implications of this result for the critical behavior at various quantum phase transitions are discussed, as is the connection with nonanalyticities in the wavenumber dependence of order parameter susceptibilities in the disordered phase.Comment: 9 pp., LaTeX, no figs, final version as publishe

Quantum superconductor-metal transition

We consider a system of superconducting grains embedded in a normal metal. At zero temperature this system exhibits a quantum superconductor-normal metal phase transition. This transition can take place at arbitrarily large conductance of the normal metal.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure include

Structural effect on the static spin and charge correlations in La1.875_{1.875}Ba0.125−x_{0.125-x}Srx_{x}CuO4_{4}

We report the results of elastic neutron scattering measurements performed on 1/8-hole doped La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ single crystals with {\it x}=0.05, 0.06, 0.075 and 0.085. In the low-temperature less-orthorhombic (LTLO, {\it Pccn} symmetry) phase, the charge-density-wave (CDW) and spin-density-wave (SDW) wavevectors were found to tilt in a low-symmetric direction with one-dimensional anisotropy in the CuO$_{2}$ plane, while they were aligned along the high-symmetry axis in the low-temperature tetragonal (LTT, {\it P}4$_2$/{\it ncm} symmetry) phase. The coincident direction of two wavevectors suggests a close relation between CDW and SDW orders. The SDW wavevector systematically deviates from the Cu-O bond direction in the LTLO phase upon Sr substitution and the tilt angle in the LTLO phase is smaller than that in the low-temperature orthorhombic phase (LTO, {\it B}{\it mab} symmetry) with comparable in-plane orthorhombic distortion. These results demonstrate a correlation between the corrugated pattern of CuO$_{2}$ plane and the deviations.Comment: 6 pages, 7figure

Low temperature electronic properties of Sr_2RuO_4 I: Microscopic model and normal state properties

Starting from the quasi one-dimensional kinetic energy of the d_{yz} and d_{zx} bands we derive a bosonized description of the correlated electron system in Sr_2RuO_4. At intermediate coupling the magnetic correlations have a quasi one-dimensional component along the diagonals of the basal plane of the tetragonal unit cell that accounts for the observed neutron scattering results. Together with two-dimensional correlations the model consistently accounts for the normal phase specific heat, cyclotron mass enhancement, static susceptibility, and Wilson ratio and implies an anomalous high temperature resistivity.Comment: 12 pages REVTEX, 6 figure

Partially filled stripes in the two dimensional Hubbard model: statics and dynamics

The internal structure of stripes in the two dimensional Hubbard model is studied by going beyond the Hartree-Fock approximation. Partially filled stripes, consistent with experimental observations, are stabilized by quantum fluctuations, included through the Configuration Interaction method. Hopping of short regions of the stripes in the transverse direction is comparable to the bare hopping element. The integrated value of $n_{\bf \vec{k}}$ compares well with experimental results.Comment: 4 page