We study a phase transition in a 3D lattice gauge theory, a "coarse-grained" version of a classical dimer model. Duality arguments indicate that the dimer lattice theory should be dual to a XY model coupled to a gauge field with geometric frustration. The transition between a Coulomb phase with dipolar correlations and a long range ordered columnar phase is understood in terms of a Higgs mechanism. Monte Carlo simulations of the dual model indicate a continuous transition with exponents close but apparently different from those of the 3d XY model. The continuous nature of the transition is confirmed by a flowgram analysis.
We study the interplay of spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in a one-dimensional Kugel-Khomskii model coupled to phonons. In the vicinity of the dimer point we analyze the excitation spectrum, mapping the spin and orbital degrees of freedom to bond operators. In particular we study the renormalization of the phonon propagator due to coupling to the orbital and magnetic excitations. Considering both, ferro- and antiferro-orbital ordering we will show that the appearance of orbiton shake-up processes in the phonon spectrum is sensitive to the type of Jahn-Teller distortion. The releva…
We use exact diagonalization combined with mean-field theory to investigate the phase diagram of the spin-orbital model for cubic vanadates. The spin-orbit coupling competes with Hund's exchange and triggers a novel phase, with the ordering of $t_{2g}$ orbital magnetic moments stabilized by the tilting of VO$_6$ octahedra. It explains qualitatively spin canting and reduction of magnetization observed in YVO$_3$. At finite temperature an orbital Peierls instability in the $C$-type antiferromagnetic phase induces modulation of magnetic exchange constants even in absence of lattice distortions. T…
The weakly interacting S=1/2 dimers system Sr3Cr2O8 has been investigated by powder neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering. Our data reveal a structural phase transition below room temperature corresponding to an antiferro-orbital ordering with nearly 90 degrees arrangement of the occupied 3z^2-r^2 d-orbital. This configuration leads to a drastic reduction of the inter-dimer exchange energies with respect to the high temperature orbital-disorder state, as shown by a spin-dimer analysis of the super-superexchange interactions performed using the Extended Huckel Tight Binding metho…
Recently, a Verwey-type transition in the mixed-valence alkali sesquioxide Cs$_4$O$_6$ was deduced from the charge ordering of molecular peroxide O$_2^{2-}$ and superoxide O$_2^-$ anions accompanied by the structural transformation and a dramatic change in electronic conductivity [Adler et al, Sci. Adv 4, eaap7581 (2018)]. Here, we report that in the sister compound Rb$_4$O$_6$ a similar Verwey-type charge ordering transition is strongly linked to O$_2^-$ orbital and spin dynamics. On cooling, a powder neutron diffraction experiment reveals a charge ordering and a cubic-to-tetragonal transitio…
We study S=1/2 Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice with first and second neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange (J_{1}-J_{2} model), employing exact diagonalization in both S_z=0 basis and nearest neighbor singlet valence bond (NNVB) basis. We find that for 0.2<J_2/J_1<0.3, NNVB basis gives a proper description of the ground state in comparison with the exact results. By analyzing the dimer-dimer as well as plaquette-plaquette correlations and also defining appropriate structure factors, we investigate possible symmetry breaking states as the candidate for the ground state in the frustrated…
We study the spin-pseudospin Hamiltonian of the Ising Model in Transverse Field (IMTF) for pseudospins, coupled to the XY-spins on a triangular lattice. This model appears from analyses of the quarter-filled ladder compound $NaV_2O_5$, and pseudospins represent its charge degrees of freedom. In the molecular-field approximation we find that the model possesses two phases: charge-disordered without spin gap; and a low-temperature phase containing both the anti-ferroelectric (zigzag) charge order and spin dimerization (spin gap). The phase transition is of the second kind, and the calculated phy…
It has been well established experimentally that the interplay of electronic correlations and spin-orbit interactions in Ir$^{4+}$ and Ir$^{5+}$ oxides results in insulating J$_{\rm eff}$=1/2 and J$_{\rm eff}$=0 ground states, respectively. However, in compounds where the structural dimerization of iridum ions is favourable, the direct Ir $d$--$d$ hybridisation can be significant and takes a key role. Here, we investigate the effects of direct Ir $d$--$d$ hybridisation in comparison with electronic correlations and spin-orbit coupling in Ba$_5$AlIr$_2$O$_{11}$, a compound with Ir dimers. Using…
Magnetoresistance measurements have been carried out along the highly conducting a axis in the FISDW phase of hydrogened and deuterated (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$ for various cooling rates through the anion ordering temperature. With increasing the cooling rate, a) the high field phase boundary $β_{\rm {HI}}$, observed at 27 T in hydrogened samples for slowly cooled, is shifted towards a lower field, b) the last semimetallic SDW phase below $β_{\rm {HI}}$ is suppressed, and c) the FISDW insulating phase above $β_{\rm {HI}}$ is enhanced in both salts. The cooling rate dependence of the FISDW transition…
Recent numerical results on classical dimers with weak aligning interactions have been theoretically justified via a Coulomb Gas representation of the height random variable. Here we propose a completely different representation, the Interacting Fermions Picture, which avoids some difficulties of the Coulomb Gas approach and provides a better account of the numerical findings. Besides, we observe that Peierls' argument explains the behavior of the system in the strong interaction case.
Using a combination of Density Functional Theory, mean-field analysis and exact diagonalization calculations we reveal the emergence of a dimerized charge ordered state in TMTTF$_2$-PF$_6$ organic crystal. The interplay between charge and spin order leads to a rich phase diagram. Coexistence of charge ordering with a structural dimerization results in a ferroelectric phase, which has been observed experimentally. The tendency to the dimerization is magnetically driven revealing TMTTF$_2$-PF$_6$ as a multiferroic material.
The low and high-temperature phases of V$_4$O$_7$ have been studied by \textit{ab initio} calculations. At high temperature, all V atoms are electronically equivalent and the material is metallic. Charge and orbital ordering, associated with the distortions in the V pseudo-rutile chains, occur below the metal-insulator transition. Orbital ordering in the low-temperature phase, different in V$^{3+}$ and V$^{4+}$ chains, allows to explain the distortion pattern in the insulating phase of V$_4$O$_7$. The in-chain magnetic couplings in the low-temperature phase turn out to be antiferromagnetic, bu…
We study the charge ordering (CO) in the one-dimensional (1D) extended Hubbard model at quarter filling where the nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsion and dimerization in the hopping parameters are included. Using the cluster mean-field approximation to take into account the effect of quantum fluctuations, we determine the CO phase boundary of the model in the parameter space at T=0 K. We thus find that the dimerization suppresses the stability of the CO phase strongly, and in consequence, the realistic parameter values for quasi-1D organic materials such as (TMTTF)$_2$PF$_6$ are outside the reg…
We show that the proposed zig--zag charge--ordering model for alpha'--NaV2O5 is incompatible with a single transition that induces both charge--ordering and spin gap. We introduce a two--band model for alpha'--NaV2O5 within which the simultaneous charge--spin order transition is driven principally by electron-phonon interactions. The spin gap is due to the formation of local dimers, thus explaining the weak magnetic effect on this transition.
Recent state-of-the-art crystallographic investigations of transition metal spinel compounds have revealed that the d- orbital charge carriers undergo ordering transitions with the formation of local "molecular bonding" units such as dimers in MgTi2O4, octomers in CuIr2S4, and heptamers in AlV2O4. Herein, we provide a unifying scheme involving one- dimensional orbital wave ordering applicable to all of these spinels. The relative phase of the orbitals in the chains is shown to be crucial to the formation of different local units, and thus both the amplitude and phase of the orbital wave play i…
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements on the molecular dimer-Mott insulator $κ$-(BEDT-TTF)$_{2}$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Cl reveal a phonon anomaly in a wide temperature range. Starting from $T_{\rm ins}\sim50$-$60$ K where the charge gap opens, the low-lying optical phonon modes become overdamped upon cooling towards the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature $T_\mathrm{N} = 27$ K, where also a ferroelectric ordering at $T_{\rm FE} \approx T_{\rm N}$ occurs. Conversely, the phonon damping becomes small again when spins and charges are ordered below $T_\mathrm{N}$, while no change of the lattice sym…
Several spin systems with low dimensionality develop a spin-dimer phase within a molecular orbital below TS, competing with long-range antiferromagnetic order. Very often, preferential orbital occupancy and ordering are the actual driving force for dimerization, as in the so-called orbitally-driven spin-Peierls compounds (MgTi2O4, CuIr2S4, La4Ru2O10, NaTiSi2O6, etc.). Through a microscopic analysis of the thermal conductivity k (T) in La4Ru2O10, we show that the orbital occupancy fluctuates rapidly above TS, resulting in an orbital-liquid state. The strong orbital-lattice coupling introduces d…
We report the presence of spin dimerization in the ground state of the one dimensional Kondo lattice model at quarter filling. The emergence of this new phase of the Kondo lattice can be traced to the form of the RKKY interaction between the localized moments and provides the first example of dimerization induced indirectly by itinerant electrons. We propose this dimer ordering as the driving mechanism of the spin-Peierls phase observed in the quasi-one-dimensional organic compounds (Per)$_{2}$M(mnt)$_{2}$ (M=Pt, Pd). Moreover, this suggests that a richer phase diagram than the Doniach paradig…
We extend the quantum dimer model (QDM) introduced by Rokhsar and Kivelson so as to construct a concrete example of the model which exhibits the first-order phase transition between different valence-bond solids suggested recently by Batista and Trugman and look for the possibility of other exotic dimer states. We show that our model contains three exotic valence-bond phases (herringbone, checkerboard and dimer smectic) in the ground-state phase diagram and that it realizes the phase transition from the staggered valence-bond solid to the herringbone one. The checkerboard phase has four-fold r…
We perform a general study of spin ordering on the pyrochlore lattice with a 3:1 proportionality of two spin polarizations. Equivalently, this describes valence bond solid conformations of a quantum dimer model on the diamond lattice. We determine the set of likely low temperature ordered phases, on the assumption that the ordering is weak, i.e the system is close to a ``U(1)'' quantum spin liquid in which the 3:1 proportionality is maintained but the spins are strongly fluctuating. The nature of the 9 ordered states we find is determined by a ``projective symmetry'' analysis. All the phases e…
When an electronic system has strong correlations and a large spin-orbit interaction, it often exhibits a plethora of mutually competing quantum phases. How a particular quantum ground state is selected out of several possibilities is a very interesting question. However, equally fascinating is how such a quantum entangled state breaks up due to perturbation. This important question has relevance in very diverse fields of science from strongly correlated electron physics to quantum information. Here we report that a quantum entangled dimerized state or valence bond crystal (VBC) phase of Li2Ru…
We study the Kondo lattice model on the geometrically frustrated Shastry-Sutherland lattice focusing on the quantum phase transition between the valence bond solid and the heavy fermion liquid phase. By explicitly including spinon pairing of local moments at the mean-field level, we establish the emergence of a unique heavy fermion superconducting phase induced by dimer ordering of the local moments coexisting with Kondo hybridization. Furthermore, we demonstrate that for suitable choices of parameters, a partial Kondo-screening phase, where some of the valence bonds are broken, precedes the a…
We extend Quantum Dimer Model (QDM) introduced by Rokhsar and Kivelson in such a way that the model includes resonance processes on larger loops. The strategy is to first construct a pseudo spin Hamiltonian which is defined not by the S =1/2 but by the S=1 representation and then establish the correspondence between the pseudo-spin-1 configurations and those of dimers. The standard QDM keeps only the lowest resonance processes for pairs of parallel dimers and its validity in describing the realistic spin systems is not obvious. Our extended QDM (EQDM) improves this point and contains a novel r…
We theoretically investigate the competition between charge-ordered state and Mott insulating state at finite temperatures in quarter-filled quasi-one-dimensional electron systems, by studying dimerized extended Hubbard chains with interchain Coulomb interactions. In order to take into account one-dimensional fluctuations properly, we apply the bosonization method to an effective model obtained by the interchain mean-field approximation. The results show that lattice dimerization, especially in the critical region, and frustration in the interchain Coulomb interactions reduce the charge-orderi…
The classical cubic-lattice dimer model undergoes an unconventional transition between a columnar crystal and a dimer liquid, in the same universality class as the deconfined quantum critical point in spin-1/2 antiferromagnets but with very different microscopic physics and microscopic symmetries. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that this transition has an emergent SO(5) symmetry relating quantities characterizing the two adjacent phases. While the low-temperature phase has a conventional order parameter, the defining property of the Coulomb liquid on the high-temperature side is deconf…
To gain insight into the mechanism of charge-ordering transitions, which conventionally are pictured as a disproportionation of an ion M as 2M$^{n+}$ $\rightarrow$ M$^{(n+1)+}$ + M$^{(n-1)+}$, we (1) review and reconsider the charge state (or oxidation number) picture itself, (2) introduce new results for the putative charge ordering compound AgNiO$_2$ and the dual charge state insulator AgO, and (3) analyze cationic occupations of actual (not formal) charge, and work to reconcile the conundrums that arise. We establish that several of the clearest cases of charge ordering transitions involve …
It has been suggested that the metal-insulator transitions in a number of spinel materials with partially-filled t_2g d-orbitals can be explained as orbitally-driven Peierls instabilities. Motivated by these suggestions, we examine theoretically the possibility of formation of such orbitally-driven states within a simplified theoretical model, a two-dimensional checkerboard lattice with two directional metal orbitals per atomic site. We include orbital ordering and inter-atom electron-phonon interactions self-consistently within a semi-classical approximation, and onsite intra- and inter-orbit…
The effect of a magnetic field on a gapped quantum magnet is described within the framework of the Quantum Dimer Model. A minimal model describing the proliferation of itinerant spinons above a critical field is proposed and investigated by Lanczos exact diagonalizations and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. For both square and triangular lattices, it is shown that spinons are fully polarized and Bose-condense. This offers a novel scenario of a Quantum Critical Point in the dimer-liquid phase (triangular lattice) characterized by the continuous appearance of a spinon superfluid density, contras…
We report on the charge-ordered structure of LiRh2O4 arising below the metal-insulator transition at 170 K. Structural studies using synchrotron X-rays have revealed that the charge-ordered states of Rh3+ and Rh4+ with dimerization are realized in the low-temperature phase below 170 K. Although the low-temperature ground state resembles that of CuIr2S4, a charge ordering pattern satisfying the Anderson condition is realized in LiRh2O4. Based on structural information such as the short-range order of dimers appearing above the transition temperature and the weakening of the correlation between …
We explore several classes of quadrupolar ordering in a system of antiferromagnetically coupled quantum spin-1 dimers, which are stacked in the triangular lattice geometry forming a bilayer. Low-energy properties of this model is described by an $\mathcal{S}=1$ hard-core bosonic degrees of freedom defined on each dimer-bond, where the singlet and triplet states of the dimerized spins are interpreted as the vacuum and the occupancy of boson, respectively. The number of bosons per dimer and the magnetic and density fluctuations of bosons are controlled by the inter-dimer Heisenberg interactions.…
Based on a Gutzwiller projected BCS wavefunction, it is shown that a local S=1/2 moment is present around a vacancy site (zinc impurity) in a form of staggered magnetic moments, which is a direct consequence of the short-ranged resonating-valence-bond (RVB) pairing in the spin background.
Dynamics of S=1 antiferromagnetic bond-alternating chains in the dimer phase, in the vicinity of the critical point with the Haldane phase, is studied by a field theoretical method. This model is considered to represent the compound Ni(C$_9$H$_{24}$N$_4$)(NO$_2$)ClO$_4$ (abbreviated as NTENP). We construct the sine-Gordon (SG) field theory as a low-energy effective model of this system, starting from a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid at the critical point. Using the exact solution of the SG theory, we give a field theoretical picture of the low-energy excitation spectrum of NTENP. Results derived fr…
We study the spin ordering within the 3-leg ladders present in the oxyborate Fe(3)O(2)BO(3) consisting of localized classical spins interacting with conduction electrons (one electron per rung). We also consider the competition with antiferromagnetic superexchange interactions to determine the magnetic phase diagram. Beside a ferromagnetic phase we find (i) a phase with ferromagnetic rungs ordered antiferromagnetically (ii) a zig-zag canted spin ordering along the legs. We also determine the induced charge ordering within the different phases and the interplay with lattice instability. Our mod…
The magnetization measurements have been performed on the doped spin gap system TlCu_{1-x}Mg_xCl_3 with x <= 0.025. The parent compound TlCuCl_3 is a three-dimensional coupled spin dimer system with the excitation gap Delta/k_B = 7.7 K. The impurity-induced antiferromagnetic ordering was clearly observed. The easy axis lies in the (0,1,0) plane. It was found that the transition temperature increases with increasing Mg^{2+} concentration x, while the spin-flop transition field is almost independent of x. The magnetization curve suggests that the impurity-induced antiferromagnetic ordering coexi…
Phase transitions in 1/4-filled quasi-one-dimensional molecular conductors are studied theoretically on the basis of extended Hubbard chains including electron-lattice interactions coupled by interchain Coulomb repulsion. We apply the numerical quantum transfer-matrix method to an effective one-dimensional model, treating the interchain term within mean-field approximation. Finite-temperature properties are investigated for the charge ordering, the "dimer Mott" transition (bond dimerization), and the spin-Peierls transition (bond tetramerization). A coexistent state of charge order and bond di…
We report quadruple configuration interaction calculations within the extended Pariser$-$Parr$-$Pople Hamiltonian on the excited states of aggregates of polyenes, crystalline acenes, and covalently linked dimers of acene molecules. We determine the precise energy orderings and analyze the cluster wave functions in order to arrive at a comprehensive physical understanding of singlet fission in these diverse families of materials. Our computational approach allows us to retain a very large number of basis states and thereby obtain the correct relative energy orderings of one electron$-$one hole …
Motivated by the co-existing charge and spin order found in strongly correlated ladder systems, we study an effective pseudospin model on a coupled two-leg ladder. A bosonisation analysis yields a rich phase diagram showing Wigner/Peierls charge order and Neel/dimer spin order. In a broad parameter regime, the orbital antiferromagnetic phase is found to be stable. An intermediate gapless phase of finite width is found to lie in between two charge-ordered gapped phases. Our work is potentially relevant for a unified description of a class of strongly correlated, quarter-filled ladder systems.
We summarize some characteristic features of the frustrated magnetic interactions in spin-orbital models adequate for cubic transition metal oxides with orbital degeneracy. A generic tendency towards dimerization, found already in the degenerate Hubbard model, is confirmed for $t_{2g}$ but not for $e_g$ systems. In the $t_{2g}$ case the quantum orbital fluctuations are more pronounced and contribute to a stronger competition between different magnetic and orbital states. Therefore the orbital liquid states exist in some undoped $t_{2g}$ systems, while in the manganites such states can be trigg…
Quantum entanglement of XY-type spin dimers in Shastry-Sutherland lattice
Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学）；Kennesaw State University（肯尼索州立大学）；Louisiana State University（路易斯安那州立大学）；University of Tennessee, Knoxville（田纳西大学）
Motivated by recent experiments on BaCuSi2O6, we investigate magnetic excitations and quantum phase transitions of layered dimer magnets with inter-layer frustration. We consider two scenarios, (A) a lattice with one dimer per unit cell and perfect inter-layer frustration, and (B) an enlarged unit cell with inequivalent layers, with and without perfect frustration. In all situations, the critical behavior at asymptotically low temperatures is three-dimensional, but the corresponding crossover scale may be tiny. Magnetic ordering in case (B) can be discussed in terms of two condensates; remarka…
We show that in transition metal compounds containing structural metal dimers there may exist in the presence of different orbitals a special state with partial formation of singlets by electrons on one orbital, while others are effectively decoupled and may give e.g. long-range magnetic order or stay paramagnetic. Similar situation can be realized in dimers spontaneously formed at structural phase transitions, which can be called orbital-selective Peierls transition. This can occur in case of strongly nonuniform hopping integrals for different orbitals and small intra-atomic Hund's rule coupl…
Field-induced magnetic order has been investigated in detail in the interacting spin 3/2 dimer system Cs_3Cr_2Br_9. Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements were performed up to H = 6 T, well above the critical field H_c1 = 1.5 T. The ordering displays incommensurabilities and a large hysteresis before a commensurate structure is reached. This structure is fully determined. Surprisingly, the lowest excitation branch never closes. Above H_c1, the gap increases slowly with field. An analysis in terms of projected pseudo-spin is given.
Magnetization measurements were performed to investigate the critical behavior of the field-induced magnetic ordering in gapped spin system TlCuCl$_3$. The critical density of the magnons was obtained as a function of temperature and the magnon-magnon interaction constant was evaluated. The experimental phase boundary for $T < 5$ K agrees almost perfectly with the magnon BEC theory based on the Hartree-Fock approximation with realistic dispersion relations. The phase boundary can be described by the power law $[H_{N}(T)-H_{c}] propto T^{phi}$. With decreasing fitting temperature range, the cri…
Magnetic phase transitions under hydrostatic pressures in spin gap systems TlCu$_{0.988}$Mg$_{0.012}$Cl$_3$ and KCu$_{0.973}$Mg$_{0.027}$Cl$_3$ were investigated by magnetization measurements. The present doped systems exhibit impurity-induced magnetic orderings. With increasing pressure, ordering temperature $T_{\rm N}$ increases. With a further increase in pressure, the present systems undergo phase transitions to uniform antiferromagnetic phases due to the closing of the triplet gap in the intact dimers. The crossover from the impurity-induced ordered phase to the uniform antiferromagnetic …
Magnetization measurements under a hydrostatic pressure of P = 1.4 GPa were performed on the coupled spin dimer system TlCuCl_3, which exhibits a pressure-induced quantum phase transition from a gapped singlet state to an antiferromagnetic state at P_c = 0.042 GPa. Antiferromagnetic ordering with ordered moments parallel to the ac plane was observed at T_N = 16.7 K at 1.4 GPa. The spin reorientation phase transition was observed at T_R ~ 9.2 K for zero magnetic field, at which the ordered moments start to incline towards the b axis. With increasing external field parallel to th b axis, a secon…
The phase diagram of the spin-1 bond-alternating XXZ chain is studied numerically. This model is appropriate to study the VBS picture and the hidden Z_2\times Z_2 symmetry concerning to the Haldane gap problem. The possible phases are the ferromagnetic, the XY, the Haldane, the dimer, and the Néel ones. The critical properties of this model can be interpreted as the Ashkin-Teller type reflecting the hidden Z_2\times Z_2 symmetry. The phase transitions are of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type (XY-Haldane and XY-dimer), of the 2D Gaussian type (Haldane-dimer), and of the 2D Ising type (Ha…
The motion of a single hole in a t-J model for the two-dimensional spin-gap compound SrCu_2(BO_3)_2 is investigated. The undoped Heisenberg model for this system has an exact dimer eigenstate and shows a phase transition between a dimerized and a Neel phase at a certain ratio of the magnetic couplings. We calculate the photoemission spectrum in the disordered phase using a generalized spin-polaron picture. By varying the inter-dimer hopping parameters we find a cross-over between a narrow quasiparticle band regime known from other strongly correlated systems and free-fermion behavior. The hole…
Single-crystal x-ray diffraction studies with synchrotron radiation on the honeycomb iridate $α$-Li$_{2}$IrO$_{3}$ reveal a pressure-induced structural phase transition with symmetry lowering from monoclinic to triclinic at a critical pressure of $P_{c}$ = 3.8 GPa. According to the evolution of the lattice parameters with pressure, the transition mainly affects the $ab$ plane and thereby the Ir hexagon network, leading to the formation of Ir--Ir dimers. These observations are independently predicted and corroborated by our \textit{ab initio} density functional theory calculations where we find…
We holographically engineer a periodic lattice of localized fermionic impurities within a plasma medium by putting an array of probe D5-branes in the background produced by N D3-branes. Thermodynamic quantities are computed in the large N limit via the holographic dictionary. We then dope the lattice by replacing some of the D5-branes by anti-D5-branes. In the large N limit, we determine the critical temperature below which the system dimerizes with bond ordering. Finally, we argue that for the special case of a square lattice our system is glassy at large but finite N, with the low temperatur…
We investigate theoretically charge ordered states on the anisotropic triangular lattice characteristic of the theta-(BEDT-TTF)_2 X materials. Using exact diagonalization studies, we establish that the charge order (CO) pattern corresponds to a ``horizontal'' stripe structure, with ...1100... CO along the two directions with larger electron hopping (p-directions), and ...1010... CO along the third direction (c-direction). The CO is accompanied by co-operative bond dimerizations along all three directions in the highest spin state. In the lowest spin state bonds along the p-directions are tetra…
Ground state energies for plaquette and dimer order in the $J_1-J_2$ square-lattice spin-half Heisenberg model are compared using series expansion methods. We find that these energies are remarkably close to each other at intermediate values of $J_2/J_1$, where the model is believed to have a quantum disordered ground state. They join smoothly with those obtained from the Ising expansions for the 2-sublattice Néel-state at $J_2/J_1 \approx 0.4$, suggesting a second order transition from a Néel state to a quantum disordered state, whereas they cross the energy for the 4-sublattice ordered state…
We study the classical cubic-lattice double dimer model, consisting of two coupled replicas of the close-packed dimer model, using a combination of theoretical arguments and Monte Carlo simulations. Our results establish the presence of a 'synchronization transition' at a critical value of the coupling, where both replicas remain disordered but their fluctuations become strongly correlated. We show that this unconventional transition, which has neither external nor spontaneous symmetry breaking, is continuous and belongs to the 3D inverted-XY universality class. By adding aligning interactions…
Close-packed, classical dimer models on three-dimensional, bipartite lattices harbor a Coulomb phase with power-law correlations at infinite temperature. Here, we discuss the nature of the thermal phase transition out of this Coulomb phase for a variety of dimer models which energetically favor crystalline dimer states with columnar ordering. For a family of these models we find a direct thermal transition from the Coulomb phase to the dimer crystal. While some systems exhibit (strong) first-order transitions in correspondence with the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm, we also find clear numeri…
Specific heat and magnetization measurements of the compound [Cu2(apyhist)2Cl2](ClO4)2, where apyhist = (4-imidazolyl)ethylene-2-amino-1-ethylpyridine), were used to identify a magnetic-field-induced long-range antiferromagnetic ordered phase at low temperatures (T < 0.36 K) and magnetic fields (1.6 T < H < 5.3 T). This system consists of a Schiff base copper(II) complex, containing chloro-bridges between adjacent copper ions in a dinuclear arrangement, with an antiferromagnetic intradimer interaction |Jintra|/kB = 3.65 K linked by an antiferromagnetic coupling |Jinter|z/kB = 2.7 K. The magnet…
The apparent contradiction between the recently observed weak charge disproportion and the traditional Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ picture of the charge-orbital orders in half-doped manganites is resolved by a novel Wannier states analysis of the LDA$+U$ electronic structure. Strong electron itinerancy in this charge-transfer system significantly delocalizes the occupied low-energy "Mn$^{3+}$" Wannier states such that charge leaks into the "Mn$^{4+}$"-sites. Furthermore, the leading mechanisms of the charge order are quantified via our first-principles derivation of the low-energy effective Hamiltonia…
We report the observation of superstructures associated with the oxygen 2p-states in two prototypical manganites using x-ray diffraction at the oxygen K-edge. We determine the nature of the orderings and discuss our picture with respect to novel theoretical models. In the stripe order system Bi0.31 Ca0.69 MnO3, hole-doped O states are found to be orbitally ordered, at the same propagation vector as the Mn orbital ordering, but no evidence is found to support a picture of oxygen charge stripes at this periodicity. In La 7/8 Sr 1/8 MnO3, we observe a 2p charge ordering described by alternating h…
We present a $^2$D NMR investigation of the gapped spin-1/2 compound $Cu_2 (C_5 H_{12} N_2)_2 Cl_4$. Our measurements reveal the presence of a magnetic field induced transverse staggered magnetization (TSM) which persists well below and above the field-induced 3D long-range magnetically ordered (FIMO) phase. The symmetry of this TSM is different from that of the TSM induced by the order parameter of the FIMO phase. Its origin, field dependence and symmetry can be explained by an intra-dimer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, as shown by DMRG calculations on a spin-1/2 ladder. This leads us to …
We study field-induced magnetic order in cubic lattices of dimers with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions. The thermal critical exponents at the quantum phase transition from a spin liquid to a magnetically ordered phase are determined from Stochastic Series Expansion Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. These exponents are independent of the interdimer coupling ratios, and converge to the value obtained by considering the transition as a Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons, alpha_(BEC) = 1.5. The scaling results are of direct relevance to the spin-dimer systems TlCuCl_3 and KCuCl_3, and …
We report on an extended fluctuation regime in the spin dimer system Sr3Cr2O8 based on anomalies in Raman active phonons and magnetic scattering. The compound has two characteristic temperatures, TS = 275 K, related to a Jahn-Teller transition with structural distortions and orbital ordering and a second, T*= 150 K, which is due to further changes in the orbital sector. Below TS quasielastic scattering marks strong fluctuations and in addition phonon anomalies are observed. For temperatures below T* we observe an exponential decrease of one phonon linewidth and determine a gap of the orbital e…
