Structural distortions and orbital ordering in LaTiO3 and YTiO3

Theoretical investigations of the electronic, magnetic and structural properties of LaTiO3 and YTiO3 have been made. In the framework of GGA and GGA+U scheme we analyzed the effect of the local Coulomb interaction (U) value on the atomic forces acting in the experimental structure. The optimal parameters of the electron-electron on-site interactions as well as the orbital configurations and magnetic properties are determined.Comment: 6 pages 6 figures, better quality pictures are avelable via e-mail, Submitted to Europhysics Letter

Electronic correlations and competing orders in multiorbital dimers: a cluster DMFT study

We investigate the violation of the first Hund's rule in 4$d$ and 5$d$ transition metal oxides that form solids of dimers. Bonding states within these dimers reduce the magnetization of such materials. We parametrize the dimer formation with realistic hopping parameters and find not only regimes, where the system behaves as a Fermi liquid or as a Peierls insulator, but also strongly correlated regions due to Hund's coupling and its competition with the dimer formation. The electronic structure is investigated using the cluster dynamical mean-field theory for a dimer in the two-plane Bethe lattice with two orbitals per site and $3/8$-filling, that is three electrons per dimer. It reveals dimer-antiferromagnetic order of a high-spin (double exchange) state and a low-spin (molecular orbital) state. At the crossover region we observe the suppression of long-range magnetic order, fluctuation enhancement and renormalization of electron masses. At certain interaction strengths the system becomes an incoherent antiferromagnetic metal with well defined local moments.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Magnetic properties of Fe1−x_{1-x}Nix_x alloy from CPA+DMFT perspectives

We use a combination of the coherent potential approximation and dynamical mean field theory to study magnetic properties of the Fe$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$ alloy from a first principles. Calculated uniform magnetic susceptibilities have a Curie-Weiss-like behavior and extracted effective temperatures are in agreement with the experimental results. The individual squared magnetic moments obtained as function of nickel concentration follow the same trends as experimental data. An analysis of the ionic and spin weights shows a possibility of a high-spin to intermediate- and low-spin states transitions at high temperatures

Non-local Coulomb interactions and metal-insulator transition in Ti2_2O3_3: a cluster LDA+DMFT approach

We present an ab initio quantum theory of the metal-insulator transition in Ti$_2$O$_3$. The recently developed cluster LDA+DMFT scheme is applied to describe the many-body features of this compound. The conventional single site DMFT cannot reproduce a low temperature insulating phase for any reasonable values of the Coulomb interaction. We show that the non-local Coulomb interactions and the strong chemical bonding within Ti-Ti pair is the origin of the small gap insulating ground state of Ti$_2$O$_3$

Targeting the Wnt pathways for therapies

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is crucial in animal development from sponges to humans. Its activity in the adulthood is less general, with exceptions having huge medical importance. Namely, improper activation of this pathway is carcinogenic in many tissues, most notably in the colon, liver and the breast. On the other hand, the Wnt/β-catenin signaling must be re-activated in cases of tissue damage, and insufficient activation results in regeneration failure and degeneration. These both medically important implications are unified by the emerging importance of this signaling pathway in the control of proliferation of various types of stem cells, crucial for tissue regeneration and, in case of cancer stem cells - cancer progression and relapse. This article aims at briefly reviewing the current state of knowledge in the field of Wnt signaling, followed by a detailed discussion of current medical developments targeting distinct branches of the Wnt pathway for anti-cancer and pro-regeneration therapies

Mott transition and suppression of orbital fluctuations in orthorhombic 3d1d^{1} perovskites

Using $t_{2g}$ Wannier-functions, a low-energy Hamiltonian is derived for orthorhombic $3d^{1}$ transition-metal oxides. Electronic correlations are treated with a new implementation of dynamical mean-field theory for non-cubic systems. Good agreement with photoemission data is obtained. The interplay of correlation effects and cation covalency (GdFeO$_{3}$-type distortions) is found to suppress orbital fluctuations in LaTiO$_{3},$ and even more in YTiO$_{3}$, and to favor the transition to the insulating state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; revised manuscrip

Double Counting in LDA+DMFT - The Example of NiO

An intrinsic issue of the LDA+DMFT approach is the so called double counting of interaction terms. How to choose the double-counting potential in a manner that is both physically sound and consistent is unknown. We have conducted an extensive study of the charge transfer system NiO in the LDA+DMFT framework using quantum Monte Carlo and exact diagonalization as impurity solvers. By explicitly treating the double-counting correction as an adjustable parameter we systematically investigated the effects of different choices for the double counting on the spectral function. Different methods for fixing the double counting can drive the result from Mott insulating to almost metallic. We propose a reasonable scheme for the determination of double-counting corrections for insulating systems.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure