Nonlocal correlations in the vicinity of the α\alpha-γ\gamma phase transition in iron within a DMFT plus spin-fermion model approach

We consider nonlocal correlations in iron in the vicinity of the $\alpha$-$\gamma$ phase transition within the spin-rotationally-invariant dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) approach, combined with the recently proposed spin-fermion model of iron. The obtained nonlocal corrections to DMFT yield a decrease of the Curie temperature of the $\alpha$ phase, leading to an agreement with its experimental value. We show that the corresponding nonlocal corrections to the energy of the $\alpha$ phase are crucially important to obtain the proximity of energies of $\alpha$ and $\gamma$ phases in the vicinity of the iron $\alpha$-$\gamma$ transformation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Effect of density of states peculiarities on Hund's metal behavior

We investigate a possibility of Hund's metal behavior in the Hubbard model with asymmetric density of states having peak(s). Specifically, we consider the degenerate two-band model and compare its results to the five-band model with realistic density of states of iron and nickel, showing that the obtained results are more general, provided that the hybridization between states of different symmetry is sufficiently small. We find that quasiparticle damping and the formation of local magnetic moments due to Hund's exchange interaction are enhanced by both, the density of states asymmetry, which yields stronger correlated electron or hole excitations, and the larger density of states at the Fermi level, increasing the number of virtual electron-hole excitations. For realistic densities of states these two factors are often interrelated because the Fermi level is attracted towards peaks of the density of states. We discuss the implication of the obtained results to various substances and compounds, such as transition metals, iron pnictides, and cuprates.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Momentum-dependent susceptibilities and magnetic exchange in bcc iron from supercell DMFT calculations

We analyze the momentum- and temperature dependences of the magnetic susceptibilities and magnetic exchange interaction in paramagnetic bcc iron by a combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory (DFT+DMFT). By considering a general derivation of the orbital-resolved effective model for spin degrees of freedom for Hund's metals, we relate momentum-dependent susceptibilities in the paramagnetic phase to the magnetic exchange. We then calculate non-uniform orbital-resolved susceptibilities at high-symmetry wave vectors by constructing appropriate supercells in the DMFT approach. Extracting the irreducible parts of susceptibilities with respect to Hund's exchange interaction, we determine the corresponding orbital-resolved exchange interactions, which are then interpolated to the whole Brillouin zone. Using the spherical model we estimate the temperature dependence of the resulting exchange between local moments.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Wannier functions and exchange integrals: The example of LiCu2_{2}O2_{2}

Starting from a single band Hubbard model in the Wannier function basis, we revisit the problem of the ligand contribution to exchange and derive explicit formulae for the exchange integrals in metal oxide compounds in terms of atomic parameters that can be calculated with constrained LDA and LDA+U. The analysis is applied to the investigation of the isotropic exchange interactions of LiCu$_{2}$O$_{2}$, a compound where the Cu-O-Cu angle of the dominant exchange path is close to 90$^{\circ}$. Our results show that the magnetic moments are localized in Wannier orbitals which have strong contribution from oxygen atomic orbitals, leading to exchange integrals that considerably differ from the estimates based on kinetic exchange only. Using LSDA+U approach, we also perform a direct {\it ab-initio} determination of the exchange integrals LiCu$_{2}$O$_{2}$. The results agree well with those obtained from the Wannier function approach, a clear indication that this modelization captures the essential physics of exchange. A comparison with experimental results is also included, with the conclusion that a very precise determination of the Wannier function is crucial to reach quantitative estimates.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Pressure-driven metal-insulator transition in BiFeO3_3 from Dynamical Mean-Field Theory

A metal-insulator transition (MIT) in BiFeO$_3$ under pressure was investigated by a method combining Generalized Gradient Corrected Local Density Approximation with Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (GGA+DMFT). Our paramagnetic calculations are found to be in agreement with experimental phase diagram: Magnetic and spectral properties of BiFeO3 at ambient and high pressures were calculated for three experimental crystal structures $R3c$, $Pbnm$ and $Pm\bar{3}m$. At ambient pressure in the $R3c$ phase, an insulating gap of 1.2 eV was obtained in good agreement with its experimental value. Both $R3c$ and $Pbnm$ phases have a metal-insulator transition that occurs simultaneously with a high-spin (HS) to low-spin (LS) transition. The critical pressure for the $Pbnm$ phase is 25-33 GPa that agrees well with the experimental observations. The high pressure and temperature $Pm\bar{3}m$ phase exhibits a metallic behavior observed experimentally as well as in our calculations in the whole range of considered pressures and undergoes to the LS state at 33 GPa where a $Pbnm$ to $Pm\bar{3}m$ transition is experimentally observed. The antiferromagnetic GGA+DMFT calculations carried out for the $Pbnm$ structure result in simultaneous MIT and HS-LS transitions at a critical pressure of 43 GPa in agreement with the experimental data

Electronic states of PrCoO3_3: X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and LDA+U density of states studies

Electronic states of PrCoO$_3$ are studied using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Pr 3d$_{5/2}$ core level and valence band (VB) were recorded using Mg K$_\beta$ source. The core level spectrum shows that the 3d$_{5/2}$ level is split into two components of multiplicity 4 and 2, respectively due to coupling of the spin states of the hole in 3d$_{5/2}$ with Pr 4f holes spin state. The observed splitting is 4.5 eV. The VB spectrum is interpreted using density of states (DOS) calculations under LDA and LDA+U. It is noted that LDA is not sufficient to explain the observed VB spectrum. Inclusion of on-site Coulomb correlation for Co 3d electrons in LDA+U calculations gives DOS which is useful in qualitative explanation of the ground state. However, it is necessary to include interactions between Pr 4f electrons to get better agreement with experimental VB spectrum. It is seen that the VB consists of Pr 4f, Co 3d and O 2p states. Pr 4f, Co 3d and O 2p bands are highly mixed indicating strong hybridization of these three states. The band near the Fermi level has about equal contributions from Pr 4f and O 2p states with somewhat smaller contribution from Co 3d states. Thus in the Zaanen, Sawatzky, and Allen scheme PrCoO$_3$ can be considered as charge transfer insulator. The charge transfer energy $\Delta$ can be obtained using LDA DOS calculations and the Coulomb-exchange energy U' from LDA+U. The explicit values for PrCoO$_3$ are $\Delta$ = 3.9 eV and U' = 5.5 eV; the crystal field splitting and 3d bandwidth of Co ions are also found to be 2.8 and 1.8 eV, respectively.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; to appear J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Semileptonic Bc−→D∗0ℓνB_{c}^{-}\to D^{*0}\ell\nu transition in three--point QCD sum rules and HQET with gluon condensate corrections

Taking into account the gluon condensate contributions, the form factors of the semileptonic $B_c^- \to D^{*0}\ell\nu$ transition with $l=\tau, e$ are calculated in the framework of the three point QCD sum rules. The heavy quark effective theory limit of the form factors are also computed. The relevant total decay width as well as the branching ratio are evaluated and compared with the predictions of the other non-perturbative approaches.Comment: 27 Pages, 4 Figures and 4 Table