Field-Induced Quantum Criticality of Systems with Ferromagnetically Coupled Structural Spin Units

The field-induced quantum criticality of compounds with ferromagnetically coupled structural spin units (as dimers and ladders) is explored by applying Wilson's renormalization group framework to an appropriate effective action. We determine the low-temperature phase boundary and the behavior of relevant quantities decreasing the temperature with the applied magnetic field fixed at its quantum critical point value. In this context, a plausible interpretation of some recent experimental results is also suggested.Comment: to be published in Physics Letters

Random walks and polymers in the presence of quenched disorder

After a general introduction to the field, we describe some recent results concerning disorder effects on both `random walk models', where the random walk is a dynamical process generated by local transition rules, and on `polymer models', where each random walk trajectory representing the configuration of a polymer chain is associated to a global Boltzmann weight. For random walk models, we explain, on the specific examples of the Sinai model and of the trap model, how disorder induces anomalous diffusion, aging behaviours and Golosov localization, and how these properties can be understood via a strong disorder renormalization approach. For polymer models, we discuss the critical properties of various delocalization transitions involving random polymers. We first summarize some recent progresses in the general theory of random critical points : thermodynamic observables are not self-averaging at criticality whenever disorder is relevant, and this lack of self-averaging is directly related to the probability distribution of pseudo-critical temperatures $T_c(i,L)$ over the ensemble of samples $(i)$ of size $L$. We describe the results of this analysis for the bidimensional wetting and for the Poland-Scheraga model of DNA denaturation.Comment: 17 pages, Conference Proceedings "Mathematics and Physics", I.H.E.S., France, November 200

Exotic quantum phase transitions in systems with quenched disorder

The possibility of a quantum phase transition in a d-dimensional model with quenched disorder is analyzed via a renormalization group treatment without using the dimensionality epsilon(tau) of the imaginary time direction tau as an additional small expansion parameter. We work at the fixed physical value epsilon(tau) = 1 from the beginning, assuming the infinite correlation length in the timelike direction at temperature T = 0 as generated by an appropriate limit of a time-dependent random potential with long-range correlation in time. A stable fixed point is found to occur for realistic dimensionalities which, in the time-totally-correlated limit, is assumed to govern an exotic second order quantum phase transition in the original physical model. Also in the present approach a double expansion procedure is used but, more physically, we involve the extension of the random correlation in the tau direction rather than the artificial and doubtful expansion in small epsilon(tau)

Low temperature critical properties and crossovers of a spin 1/2 planar ferromagnet in 4-e dimensions

The low temperature critical properties and crossovers of a spin 1/2 planar ferromagnet in a longitudinal magnetic field are explored in 4-e dimensions in terms of an anisotropic action, suitable to describe the spin model in the low temperature regime.

Reentrant phenomena in a three-dimensional spin-1 planar ferromagnet with easy-axis single-ion anisotropy

The two-time Green function method is employed to explore the phase diagram and the magnetic-fieldinduced quantum criticality of a three-dimensional spin-one planar ferromagnet with easy-axis singleion anisotropy. We adopt the Tyablikov and Anderson-Callen decouplings for higher order exchange and single-ion anisotropy Green functions, respectively. The central finding is that, within a characteristic range of the anisotropy parameter values, reentrant phenomena occur in the phase diagram close to the quantum critical point producing a sensible change of the conventional quantum critical scenario

Magnetic-field-induced quantum criticality in a spin-

The effects of single-ion anisotropy on quantum criticality in a d-dimensional spin-S planar ferromagnet is explored by means of the two-time Green’s function method. We work at the Tyablikov decoupling level for exchange interactions and the Anderson-Callen decoupling level for single-ion anisotropy. In our analysis a longitudinal external magnetic field is used as the non-thermal control parameter and the phase diagram and the quantum critical properties are established for suitable values of the single-ion anisotropy parameter D. We find that the single-ion anisotropy has sensible effects on the structure of the phase diagram close to the quantum critical point. However, for values of the uniaxial crystal-field parameter below a positive threshold, the conventional magnetic-field-induced quantum critical scenario remains unchanged

Magnetic-field-induced quantum criticality in a planar ferromagnet with single-ion anisotropy

We analyze the effects induced by single-ion anisotropy on quantum criticality in a d-dimensional spin-3/2 planar ferromagnet. To tackle this problem we employ the two-time Green's function method, using the Tyablikov decoupling for exchange interactions and the Anderson-Callen decoupling for single-ion anisotropy. In our analysis the role of non-thermal control parameter which drives the quantum phase transition is played by a longitudinal external magnetic field. We find that the single-ion anisotropy has sensible effects on the structure of the phase diagram close to the quantum critical point

A non-conventional approach to study the quenched impurity effects on quantum criticality

A non conventional point of view is used to explore the competition between quenched disorder and quantum fluctuations in systems which exhibit a quantum phase transition in the clean limit. The approach consists in averaging over quantum degrees of freedom and next in applying the renormalization group transformation to the resulting effective classical random action. It emerges that, below four dimensions, the quantum criticality appears to be controlled by the classical random fixed point