Orbital ordering and frustrations

Orbital ordering occurs in many transition metal compounds with Jahn–Teller ions (Cu2+, Mn3+, low-spin Ni3+, Ti3+ etc). It plays an important role in these materials. At the same time, exchange interactions in orbitally degenerate systems are inherently frustrated, even in materials with simple crystal lattices. We discuss the origin of this frustration, considering in detail materials with cubic and triangular lattices of transition metal ions. We also discuss possible types of ground states of such systems, e.g., disordered orbital liquids and ordering due to the order-from-disorder mechanism

Charge ordering and opening of spin gap in NaV2O5

We argue that the origin of the phase transition in quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet NaV2O5 is not the spin-Peierls (SP) instability, but a charge ordering. The opening of the spin gap and the lattice dimerization, characteristic for the spin-Peierls systems, in NaV2O5 result from the interplay between the charge, lattice, and spin degrees of freedom

Intersite elastic coupling and invar effect

The invar phenomenon (very small thermal expansion in some iron alloys or compounds) is usually explained by the thermally-induced transitions between different spin states of Fe, having different atomic volumes. We consider these processes taking into account elastic interaction between Fe atoms in different spin states. Inclusion of these interactions explains why thermal expansion may be close to zero in a broad temperature interval and thus gives rise to the invar effect

Orbital occupation, local spin and exchange interactions in V2O3

We present the results of an LDA and LDA+U band structure study of the monoclinic and the corundum phases of V2O3 and argue that the most prominent (spin 1/2) models used to describe the semiconductor metal transition are not valid. Contrary to the generally accepted assumptions we find that the large on site Coulomb and exchange interactions result in a total local spin of 1 rather than 1/2 and especially an orbital occupation which removes the orbital degeneracies and the freedom for orbital ordering. The calculated exchange interaction parameters lead to a magnetic structure consistent with experiment again without the need of orbital ordering. While the low-temperature monoclinic distortion of the corundum crystal structure produces a very small effect on electronic structure of v2o3, the change of magnetic order leads to drastic differences in band widths and band gaps. The low temperature monoclinic phase clearly favors the experimentally observed magnetic structure, but calculations for corundum crystal structure gave two consistent sets of exchange interaction parameters with nearly degenerate total energies suggesting a kind of frustration in the paramagnetic phase. These results strongly suggest that the phase transitions in V2O3 which is so often quoted as the example of a S=1/2 Mott Hubbard system have a different origin. So back to the drawing board

Transition from Mott insulator to superconductor in GaNb4_{4}Se8_{8} and GaTa4_{4}Se8_{8} under high pressure

Electronic conduction in GaM$_{4}$Se$_{8}$ (M=Nb;Ta) compounds with the fcc GaMo$_{4}$S$_{8}$-type structure originates from hopping of localized unpaired electrons (S=1/2) among widely separated tetrahedral M$_{4}$ metal clusters. We show that under pressure these systems transform from Mott insulators to a metallic and superconducting state with T$_{C}$=2.9 and 5.8K at 13 and 11.5GPa for GaNb$_{4}$Se$_{8}$ and GaTa$_{4}$Se$_{8}$, respectively. The occurrence of superconductivity is shown to be connected with a pressure-induced decrease of the MSe$_{6}$ octahedral distortion and simultaneous softening of the phonon associated with MSe-bonds.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Bernoulli potential in type-I and weak type-II superconductors: I. Surface charge

The electrostatic potential close to the surface of superconductors in the Meissner state is discussed. We show that beside the Bernoulli potential, the quasiparticle screening, and the thermodynamic contribution due to Rickayzen, there is a non-local contribution which is large for both type-I and weak type-II superconductors.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Characteristic length scales and formation of vortices in the Abelian Higgs model in the presence of a uniform background charge

In this brief report we consider a non-local Abelian Higgs model in the presence of a neutralizing uniform background charge. We show that such a system possesses vortices which key feature is a strong radial electric field. We estimate the basic properties of such an object and characteristic length scales in this model.Comment: Replaced with journal version. Some minor change