Coherent-incoherent transition in the sub-Ohmic spin-boson model

We study the spin-boson model with a sub-Ohmic bath using a variational method. The transition from coherent dynamics to incoherent tunneling is found to be abrupt as a function of the coupling strength $\alpha$ and to exist for any power $0 < s< 1$, where the bath coupling is described by $J(\omega) \sim \alpha \omega^{s}$. We find non-monotonic temperature dependence of the two-level gap $\tilde{K}$ and a re-entrance regime close to the transition due to non-adiabatic low-frequency bath modes. Differences between thermodynamic and dynamic conditions for the transition as well as the limitations of the simplified bath description are discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Field-dependent dynamics of the Anderson impurity model

Single-particle dynamics of the Anderson impurity model in the presence of a magnetic field $H$ are considered, using a recently developed local moment approach that encompasses all energy scales, field and interaction strengths. For strong coupling in particular, the Kondo scaling regime is recovered. Here the frequency ($\omega/\omega_{\rm K}$) and field ($H/\omega_{\rm K}$) dependence of the resultant universal scaling spectrum is obtained in large part analytically, and the field-induced destruction of the Kondo resonance investigated. The scaling spectrum is found to exhibit the slow logarithmic tails recently shown to dominate the zero-field scaling spectrum. At the opposite extreme of the Fermi level, it gives asymptotically exact agreement with results for statics known from the Bethe ansatz. Good agreement is also found with the frequency and field-dependence of recent numerical renormalization group calculations. Differential conductance experiments on quantum dots in the presence of a magnetic field are likewise considered; and appear to be well accounted for by the theory. Some new exact results for the problem are also established

A Bose-Einstein condensation model for high-temperature superconductivity

I propose that a dopant charge singlet bonding state may arise from the hybridization of molecular orbitals in a cluster containing 13 Cu atoms in the CuO2 plane of the superconducting cuprates. This singlet state forms a pre-formed pair with low binding energy that is spatially bounded and weakly interacting, and that can undergo Bose-Einstein condensation. I show that this model is able to account, in a quantitative and natural way, for many of the thermodynamic and electronic characteristics of the superconducting cuprates, including many of the key experimental ARPES, muSR and microwave results on the temperature and doping dependencies of both the superfluid density and the pairing strengths (superconducting gap, leading-edge-midpoint and psuedogap) in these high-temperature superconductors.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Very low-temperature muon relaxation in an organic spin-Peierls compound

We have observed strong muon-spin relaxation (CBR) in the spin-Peierls compound MEM(TCNQ)(2) at temperatures down to 39 mK. We attribute this relaxation to the creation of defect spins by the muon. Furthermore, we observe a slowing down of spin fluctuations as the spin-Peierls energy gap opens, and we relate this effect to the size of the energy gap. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Spin fluctuations in the spin-Peierls compound MEM(TCNQ)(2) studied using muon spin relaxation

We report a muon spin relaxation (μSR) investigation of the organic spin-Peierls compound MEM(TCNQ)2 at temperatures down to 39 mK. We have observed a slowing down of the electronic spins as the spin-Peierls gap widens at temperatures below the spin-Peierls transition and use this behavior to estimate the size of the gap. At the very lowest temperatures the electronic spin fluctuations freeze out and the muon spin depolarization is dominated by a persistent static mechanism which we ascribe to a defect-spin system. We relate the low-temperature depolarization rate to the concentration of these defects, and we propose a model for the creation of spin defects by the muon itself. ©2000 The American Physical Society