2,076 research outputs found
Wilson chains are not thermal reservoirs
Wilson chains, based on a logarithmic discretization of a continuous
spectrum, are widely used to model an electronic (or bosonic) bath for Kondo
spins and other quantum impurities within the numerical renormalization group
method and other numerical approaches. In this short note we point out that
Wilson chains can not serve as thermal reservoirs as their temperature changes
by a number of order Delta E when a finite amount of energy Delta E is added.
This proves that for a large class of non-equilibrium problems they cannot be
used to predict the long-time behavior.Comment: 2 page
Mott transition of fermionic atoms in a three-dimensional optical trap
We study theoretically the Mott metal-insulator transition for a system of
fermionic atoms confined in a three-dimensional optical lattice and a harmonic
trap. We describe an inhomogeneous system of several thousand sites using an
adaptation of dynamical mean field theory solved efficiently with the numerical
renormalization group method. Above a critical value of the on-site
interaction, a Mott-insulating phase appears in the system. We investigate
signatures of the Mott phase in the density profile and in time-of-flight
experiments.Comment: 4 pages and 5 figure
Transport in Almost Integrable Models: Perturbed Heisenberg Chains
The heat conductivity kappa(T) of integrable models, like the one-dimensional
spin-1/2 nearest-neighbor Heisenberg model, is infinite even at finite
temperatures as a consequence of the conservation laws associated with
integrability. Small perturbations lead to finite but large transport
coefficients which we calculate perturbatively using exact diagonalization and
moment expansions. We show that there are two different classes of
perturbations. While an interchain coupling of strength J_perp leads to
kappa(T) propto 1/J_perp^2 as expected from simple golden-rule arguments, we
obtain a much larger kappa(T) propto 1/J'^4 for a weak next-nearest neighbor
interaction J'. This can be explained by a new approximate conservation law of
the J-J' Heisenberg chain.Comment: 4 pages, several minor modifications, title change
Lower bounds for the conductivities of correlated quantum systems
We show how one can obtain a lower bound for the electrical, spin or heat
conductivity of correlated quantum systems described by Hamiltonians of the
form H = H0 + g H1. Here H0 is an interacting Hamiltonian characterized by
conservation laws which lead to an infinite conductivity for g=0. The small
perturbation g H1, however, renders the conductivity finite at finite
temperatures. For example, H0 could be a continuum field theory, where momentum
is conserved, or an integrable one-dimensional model while H1 might describe
the effects of weak disorder. In the limit g to 0, we derive lower bounds for
the relevant conductivities and show how they can be improved systematically
using the memory matrix formalism. Furthermore, we discuss various applications
and investigate under what conditions our lower bound may become exact.Comment: Title changed; 9 pages, 2 figure
Zero temperature optical conductivity of ultra-clean Fermi liquids and superconductors
We calculate the low-frequency optical conductivity sigma(w) of clean metals
and superconductors at zero temperature neglecting the effects of impurities
and phonons. In general, the frequency and temperature dependences of sigma
have very little in common. For small Fermi surfaces in three dimensions (but
not in 2D) we find for example that Re sigma(w>0)=const. for low w which
corresponds to a scattering rate Gamma proportional to w^2 even in the absence
of Umklapp scattering when there is no T^2 contribution to Gamma. In the main
part of the paper we discuss in detail the optical conductivity of d-wave
superconductors in 2D where Re sigma(w>0) \propto w^4 for the smallest
frequencies and the Umklapp processes typically set in smoothly above a finite
threshold w_0 smaller than twice the maximal gap Delta. In cases where the
nodes are located at (pi/2, pi/2), such that direct Umklapp scattering among
them is possible, one obtains Re sigma(w) \propto w^2.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Kondo proximity effect: How does a metal penetrate into a Mott insulator?
We consider a heterostructure of a metal and a paramagnetic Mott insulator
using an adaptation of dynamical mean field theory to describe inhomogeneous
systems. The metal can penetrate into the insulator via the Kondo effect. We
investigate the scaling properties of the metal-insulator interface close to
the critical point of the Mott insulator. At criticality, the quasiparticle
weight decays as 1/x^2 with distance x from the metal within our mean field
theory. Our numerical results (using the numerical renormalization group as an
impurity solver) show that the prefactor of this power law is extremely small.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Anomalous bond stretching phonons as a probe of charge fluctuations in perovskites
Important information on momentum resolved low energy charge response can be
extracted from anomalous properties of bond stretching in plane phonons
observed in inelastic neutron and X-ray scattering in cuprates and some other
perovskites. We discuss a semiphenomenological model based on coupling of
phonons to a single charge mode. The phonon dispersion and linewidth allow to
locate the energy of the charge excitation in the mid infrared part of the
spectrum and to determine some of its characteristics. New experiments on
oxygen isotope substitution could allow to achieve a more detailed description.
Corresponding relations following from the model can be used for the
interpretation of experiments and as test of the model.Comment: presented at the M2S-HTSC-VIII conference in Dresde
Current induced rotational torques in the skyrmion lattice phase of chiral magnets
In chiral magnets without inversion symmetry, the magnetic structure can form
a lattice of magnetic whirl lines, a two-dimensional skyrmion lattice,
stabilized by spin-orbit interactions in a small range of temperatures and
magnetic fields. The twist of the magnetization within this phase gives rise to
an efficient coupling of macroscopic magnetic domains to spin currents. We
analyze the resulting spin-transfer effects, and, in particular, focus on the
current induced rotation of the magnetic texture by an angle. Such a rotation
can arise from macroscopic temperature gradients in the system as has recently
been shown experimentally and theoretically. Here we investigate an alternative
mechanism, where small distortions of the skyrmion lattice and the transfer of
angular momentum to the underlying atomic lattice play the key role. We employ
the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation and adapt the Thiele method to derive an
effective equation of motion for the rotational degree of freedom. We discuss
the dependence of the rotation angle on the orientation of the applied magnetic
field and the distance to the phase transition.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; minor changes, published versio
Interplay of disorder and spin fluctuations in the resistivity near a quantum critical point
The resistivity in metals near an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point
(QCP) is strongly affected by small amounts of disorder. In a quasi-classical
treatment, we show that an interplay of strongly anisotropic scattering due to
spin fluctuations and isotropic impurity scattering leads to a large regime
where the resistivity varies as T^alpha, with an anomalous exponent, alpha, 1
<= alpha <= 1.5, depending on the amount of disorder. I argue that this
mechanism explains in some detail the anomalous temperature dependence of the
resistivity observed in CePd_2Si_2, CeNi_2Ge_2 and CeIn_3 near the QCP.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures, published version, only small change
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