Magnetic field induced rotation of the d-vector in Sr_2RuO_4

The superconductor Sr_2RuO_4 is widely believed to be a spin triplet system with a chiral order parameter analogous to the A phase of superfluid helium-3. The best evidence for this pairing state is that the Knight shift or spin susceptibility measured in neutron scattering is constant below T_c, unlike in a spin-singlet superconductor. The original Knight shift and neutron scattering measurements were performed for magnetic fields aligned in the ruthenate a-b plane. These would be consistent with a triplet d-vector d{k} aligned along the c-axis. However recently the Knight shift for fields along c was also found to be constant below T_c, which is not expected for this symmetry state. In this paper we show that while spin-orbit interaction stabilises the c-axis oriented d-vector, it is possible that only a very small external B field may be sufficient to rotate the d-vector into the a-b plane. In this case the triplet pairing model remains valid. We discuss characteristics of the transition and the prospects to detect it in thermodynamic quantities.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of the M2S-HTSC conference in Dresden. Requires elsart.sty (included

Local Charge Excesses in Metallic Alloys: a Local Field Coherent Potential Approximation Theory

Electronic structure calculations performed on very large supercells have shown that the local charge excesses in metallic alloys are related through simple linear relations to the local electrostatic field resulting from distribution of charges in the whole crystal. By including local external fields in the single site Coherent Potential Approximation theory, we develop a novel theoretical scheme in which the local charge excesses for random alloys can be obtained as the responses to local external fields. Our model maintains all the computational advantages of a single site theory but allows for full charge relaxation at the impurity sites. Through applications to CuPd and CuZn alloys, we find that, as a general rule, non linear charge rearrangements occur at the impurity site as a consequence of the complex phenomena related with the electronic screening of the external potential. This nothwithstanding, we observe that linear relations hold between charge excesses and external potentials, in quantitative agreement with the mentioned supercell calculations, and well beyond the limits of linearity for any other site property.Comment: 11 pages, 1 table, 7 figure

Efficient Selfconsistent Calculations of Multiband Superconductivity in UPd2_2Al3_3

An efficient physically motivated computational approach to multiband superconductivity is introduced and applied to the study of the gap symmetry in a heavy-fermion, UPd$_2$Al$_3$. Using realistic pairing potentials and accurate energy bands that are computed within density functional theory, self-consistent calculations demonstrate that the only accessible superconducting gap with nodes exhibits d-wave symmetry in the $A_{1g}$ representation of the $D_{6h}$ point group. Our results suggest that in a superconductor with gap nodes the prevailing gap symmetry is dictated by the constraint that nodes must be as far as possible from high-density areas

Screened Coulomb interactions in metallic alloys: I. Universal screening in the atomic sphere approximation

We have used the locally self-consistent Green's function (LSGF) method in supercell calculations to establish the distribution of the net charges assigned to the atomic spheres of the alloy components in metallic alloys with different compositions and degrees of order. This allows us to determine the Madelung potential energy of a random alloy in the single-site mean field approximation which makes the conventional single-site density-functional- theory coherent potential approximation (SS-DFT-CPA) method practically identical to the supercell LSGF method with a single-site local interaction zone that yields an exact solution of the DFT problem. We demonstrate that the basic mechanism which governs the charge distribution is the screening of the net charges of the alloy components that makes the direct Coulomb interactions short-ranged. In the atomic sphere approximation, this screening appears to be almost independent of the alloy composition, lattice spacing, and crystal structure. A formalism which allows a consistent treatment of the screened Coulomb interactions within the single-site mean-filed approximation is outlined. We also derive the contribution of the screened Coulomb interactions to the S2 formalism and the generalized perturbation method.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Modeling the actinides with disordered local moments

A first-principles disordered local moment (DLM) picture within the local-spin-density and coherent potential approximations (LSDA+CPA) of the actinides is presented. The parameter free theory gives an accurate description of bond lengths and bulk modulus. The case of $\delta$-Pu is studied in particular and the calculated density of states is compared to data from photo-electron spectroscopy. The relation between the DLM description, the dynamical mean field approach and spin-polarized magnetically ordered modeling is discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

The Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Non-Local Coherent Potential Approximation (KKR-NLCPA)

We introduce the Korringa-Kohn-Rostocker non-local coherent potential approximation (KKR-NLCPA) for describing the electronic structure of disordered systems. The KKR-NLCPA systematically provides a hierarchy of improvements upon the widely used KKR-CPA approach and includes non-local correlations in the disorder configurations by means of a self-consistently embedded cluster. The KKR-NLCPA method satisfies all of the requirements for a successful cluster generalization of the KKR-CPA; it remains fully causal, becomes exact in the limit of large cluster sizes, reduces to the KKR-CPA for a single-site cluster, is straightforward to implement numerically, and enables the effects of short-range order upon the electronic structure to be investigated. In particular, it is suitable for combination with electronic density functional theory to give an ab-initio description of disordered systems. Future applications to charge correlation and lattice displacement effects in alloys and spin fluctuations in magnets amongst others are very promising. We illustrate the method by application to a simple one-dimensional model.Comment: Revised versio

ON THE FLUCTUATION MAGNETOCONDUCTIVITY OF AN ANISOTROPIC DIRTY SUPERCONDUCTOR

On calcule la conductivité due aux fluctuations en présence d'un champ magnétique appliqué H, en fonction de l'angle entre H et le courant, dans le cas d'un supraconducteur anisotrope "sale".We calculate the fluctuation conductivity in presence of an external magnetic field H as function of the angle between H and the current for an anisotropic dirty superconductor

ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN ELECTRONS AND TUNNELLING LEVELS IN METALLIC GLASSES

Nous considérons un modèle simple dans lequel les électrons d'un verre métallique sont soumis à un potentiel local dépendant du temps, dû à des doubles puits à deux niveaux. Nous montrons que ce modèle possède des divergences intéressantes qui sont toutefois très differentes des prédictions du modèle "s-d Kondo" de Cochrane et al./9/.We consider a simple model in which the condution electrons of metallic glass experience a local time-dependent potential due to two-level tunnelling states. We show that the model exhibits interesting divergent behavior which is, nevertheless, quite different from that predicted by the "s-d Kondo" model of a Cochrane et al./9/

On the states of orientations along a magnetically inhomogeneous nanowire

We study a simple model for a wire which consists of alternate magnetic and non-magnetic segments. We are interested in the state of relative orientations of the disc-like magnetic segments. In particular, we investigated the ground state and the "nite temperature phase diagram of the system, using ground state search, Mean "eld approximation and Monte Carlo simulations. We "nd a rich variety of orientational transitions

On the states of orientations along a magnetically inhomogeneous nanowire

We study a simple model for a wire which consists of alternate magnetic and non-magnetic segments. We are interested in the state of relative orientations of the disc-like magnetic segments. In particular, we investigated the ground state and the "nite temperature phase diagram of the system, using ground state search, Mean "eld approximation and Monte Carlo simulations. We "nd a rich variety of orientational transitions