arXiv subjects

A. H. Castro Neto

Publications and source records attributed to A. H. Castro Neto.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Topological Defects and the Spin Glass Phase of Cuprates

We propose that the spin glass phase of cuprates is due to the proliferation of topological defects of a spiral distortion of the antiferromagnet order. Our theory explains straightforwardly the simultaneous existence of short range incommensurate magnetic correlations and complete a-b symmetry breaking in this phase. We show via a renormalization group calculation that the collinear O(3)/O(2) symmetry is unstable towards the formation of local non-collinear correlations. A critical disorder strength is identified beyond which topological defects proliferate already at zero temperature.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2001

Charge Stripe in an Antiferromagnet: 1d Band of Composite Excitations

With the help of analytical and numerical studies of the $t$-$J_z$ model we argue that the charge stripe in an antiferromagnetic insulator should be understood as a system of holon-spin-polaron excitations condensed at the self-induced antiphase domain wall. The structure of such a charge excitation is studied in detail with numerical and analytical results for various quantities being in a very close agreement. An analytical picture of these excitations occupying an effective 1D stripe band is also in a very good accord with numerical data. The emerging concept advocates the primary role of the kinetic energy in favoring the stripe as a ground state. A comparative analysis suggests the effect of pairing and collective meandering on the energetics of the stripe formation to be secondary.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Effect of impurities on quasi-2D quantum antiferromagnet

We have studied the static and dynamic properties of quasi-two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets (AF) diluted with spinless impurities using spin-wave theory and $T$-matrix approximation. We show that the spectrum of a 2D AF at long wavelengths is overdamped at arbitrary concentration of spinless impurities. The scattering leads to a new length scale $\ell/a \sim e^{π/4x}$, $x$ being impurity concentration and $a$ the lattice spacing, beyond which the influence of impurities on the spectrum is dominant. Although the dynamical properties are significantly modified we show that 2D is not the lower critical dimension for this problem. Thus, in low-dimensional systems with disorder the connection between static and dynamic quantities is not straightforward. Our results are in quantitative agreement with the recent Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data for $S=1/2$, S=1, and $S=5/2$. We have also proposed experiments which can further test the results of our theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Diluted quantum antiferromagnets: spin excitations and long-range order

We have studied the static and dynamic magnetic properties of two-dimensional (2D) and quasi-two-dimensional, spin-S, quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnets (QHAF) diluted with spinless vacancies. Using spin-wave theory and T-matrix approximation we have calculated the staggered magnetization, M(x,T), the neutron scattering dynamical structure factor, S(k,omega), the 2D magnetic correlation length, ξ(x,T), and the Neel temperature, T_N(x), for the quasi-2D case. We find that in 2D the hydrodynamic description of excitations in terms of spin-waves breaks down at the wavelength larger than \ell/a ~ exp(π/4x), x being impurity concentration and "a" the lattice spacing. The density of states acquires a constant term and exhibits an anomalous peak at omega omega_0 associated with the low-energy localized excitations. These anomalies lead to a substantial enhancement of the magnetic specific heat, C_M, at low temperatures. Although the dynamical properties are significantly modified we show that 2D is not the lower critical dimension for this problem. Our results are in quantitative agreement with the recent Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data for S=1/2, S=1, and S=5/2.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Long-range order and low-energy spectrum of diluted 2D quantum AF

The problem of diluted two-dimensional (2D) quantum antiferromagnet (AF) on a square lattice is studied using spin-wave theory. The influence of impurities on static and dynamic properties is investigated and a good agreement with experiments and Monte Carlo (MC) data is found. The hydrodynamic description of spin-waves breaks down at characteristic wavelengths $Λ\agt\exp(\frac{const}{x})$, $x$ being an impurity concentration, while the order parameter is free from anomalies. We argue that this dichotomy originates from strong scattering of the low-energy excitations in 2D.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Non-linear excitations in 1D correlated insulators

In this work we investigate charge transport in one-dimensional (1D) insulators via semi-classical and perturbative renormalization group (RG) methods. We consider the problem of electron-electron, electron-phonon and electron-two-level system interactions. We show that non-linear collective modes such as polarons and solitons are reponsible for transport. We find a new excitation in the Mott insulator: the polaronic soliton. We discuss the differences between band and Mott insulators in terms of their spin spectrum and obtain the charge and spin gaps in each one of these systems. We show that electron-electron interactions provide strong renormalizations of the energy scales in the problem.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

$T_c$ suppression in co-doped striped cuprates

We propose a model that explains the reduction of $T_c$ due to the pinning of stripes by planar impurity co-doping in cuprates. A geometrical argument about the planar fraction of carriers affected by stripe pinning leads to a a linear $T_c$ suppression as a function of impurity concentration $z$. The critical value $z_c$ for the vanishing of superconductivity is shown to scale like $T_c^2$ in the under-doped regime and becomes universal in the optimally- and over-doped regimes. Our theory agrees very well with the experimental data in single- and bi-layer cuprates co-doped with Zn, Li, Co, etc...

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Phonons and Solitons in 1D Mott Insulators

We study the problem of one-dimensional (1D) Luttinger liquids in the insulating Mott-Hubbard phase in the presence of acoustic phonons in the semiclassical limit. We show that solitonic excitations can propagate freely in the system and the energy required to produce a soliton is reduced by a polaronic effect. We find a critical value of the electron-phonon coupling constant for which this energy vanishes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Correlated versus Uncorrelated Stripe Pinning: the Roles of Nd and Zn Co-Doping

We investigate the stripe pinning produced by Nd and Zn co-dopants in cuprates via a renormalization group approach. The two dopants play fundamentally different roles in the pinning process. While Nd induces a correlated pinning potential that traps the stripes in a flat phase and suppresses fluctuations, Zn pins the stripes in a disordered manner and promotes line meandering. We obtain the zero temperature phase diagram and compare our results with neutron scattering data. A good agreement is found between theory and experiment.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Mutagenesis and Metallic DNA

Positions of protons in DNA hydrogen bonds are fundamental for the fidelity of the replication process. Because the hydrogen bond is partially covalent the electronic structure of DNA plays an important role in the replication process. Current studies of electron transfer in DNA have shown that simple pictures based on independent electron physics are not sufficient to account for the experimental data. In this paper we propose a model for electron-proton interaction in DNA and its relationship to mutagenesis. We argue that mutations will be more frequent in DNA sequences where electron delocalization occurs. To test our theory we calculate the heat capacity of DNA at low temperatures and compare with the available experimental data in hydrated DNA. We find that our model is in good agreement with the data. We also propose new measurements of infrared absorption which would further test our ideas.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Metallic stripe in two dimensions: stability and spin-charge separation

The problems of charge stripe formation, spin-charge separation, and stability of the antiphase domain wall (ADW) associated with a stripe are addressed using an analytical approach to the t-J_z model. We show that a metallic stripe together with its ADW is the ground state of the problem in the low doping regime. The stripe is described as a system of spinons and magnetically confined holons strongly coupled to the two dimensional (2D) spin environment with holon-spin-polaron elementary excitations filling a one-dimensional band.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Charge ordering and long-range interactions in layered transition metal oxides: a quasiclassical continuum study

The competition between long-range and short-range interactions among holes moving in an antiferromagnet (AF), is studied within a model derived from the spin density wave picture of layered transition metal oxides. A novel numerical approach is developed which allows one to solve the problem at finite hole densities in very large systems (of order hundreds of lattice spacings), albeit in a quasiclassical limit, and to correctly incorporate the long-range part of the Coulomb interaction. The focus is on the problem of charge ordering and the charge phase diagram: at low temperatures four different phases are found, depending on the strength of the magnetic (dipolar) interaction generated by the spin-wave exchange, and the density of holes. The four phases are the Wigner crystal, diagonal stripes, a grid phase (horizontal-vertical stripe loops) and a glassy-clumped phase. In the presence of both in-plane and out-of-plane charged impurities the stripe ordering is suppressed, although finite stripe segments persist. At finite temperatures multiscale (intermittency) dynamics is found, reminiscent of that in glasses. The dynamics of stripe melting and its implications for experiments is discussed.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1999

Non-Fermi liquid behavior in U and Ce intermetallics

In this paper we review the current experimental and theoretical situation of the description of non-Fermi liquid behavior (NFL) in U and Ce intermetallics. We focus on the magnetic and thermodynamic properties. We also discuss a recent theoretical interpretation of this behavior in terms of Griffiths-McCoy singularities close to the magnetic quantum critical point (QCP). We show how an effective Hamiltonian which contains both the RKKY coupling and the Kondo interaction can be written after high energy degrees of freedom away from the Fermi surface are traced out. We argue that dissipation due to particle-hole excitations close to the Fermi surface is a relevant perturbation at low temperatures and we estimate the crossover temperature T^* above which power law behavior in specific heat and magnetic response occurs ($C_V/T \sim χ(T) \propto T^{-1+λ}$ with $λ<1$). Below T^* a new regime dominated by dissipation is found and deviations from power law behavior are expected.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Stripe dynamics in presence of disorder and lattice potentials

We study the influence of disorder and lattice pinning on the dynamics of a charged stripe. Starting from a phenomenological model of a discrete quantum string, we determine the phase diagram for this system. Three regimes are identified, the free phase, the flat phase pinned by the lattice, and the disorder pinned phase. In the absence of impurities, the system can be mapped onto a 1D array of Josephson junctions. The results are compared with measurements on nickelates and cuprates and a good qualitative agreement is found between our results and the experimental data.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv1999

Effective Field Theory for Layered Quantum Antiferromagnets with Non-Magnetic Impurities

We propose an effective two-dimensional quantum non-linear sigma model combined with classical percolation theory to study the magnetic properties of site diluted layered quantum antiferromagnets like La$_{2}$Cu$_{1-x}$M$_x$O$_{4}$ (M$=$Zn, Mg). We calculate the staggered magnetization at zero temperature, $M_s(x)$, the magnetic correlation length, $ξ(x,T)$, the NMR relaxation rate, $1/T_1(x,T)$, and the Néel temperature, $T_N(x)$, in the renormalized classical regime. Due to quantum fluctuations we find a quantum critical point (QCP) at $x_c \approx 0.305$ at lower doping than the two-dimensional percolation threshold $x_p \approx 0.41$. We compare our results with the available experimental data.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1999

One-Particle Spectral Properties of 1D Mott-Hubbard Insulators

We use an exact {\it holon} and {\it spinon} Landau-liquid functional which describes the holon - spinon interactions at all scattering orders, to study correlation functions of integrable multicomponent many-particle problems showing both linear and non-linear energy bands. Motivated by recent photoemission experiments, we consider specific cases when the dominant non-linear band terms are quadratic and apply our results to the evaluation of the half-filling 1D Hubbard model one-particle spectral functions beyond conformal-field theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Disorder-Driven Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior in CeRhRuSi_2

We report measurements of the bulk magnetic susceptibility and ^{29}Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) linewidth in the heavy-fermion alloy CeRhRuSi_2. The linewidth increases rapidly with decreasing temperature and reaches large values at low temperatures, which strongly suggests the wide distributions of local susceptibilities χ_j obtained in disorder-driven theories of non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior. The NMR linewidths agree well with distribution functions P(χ) which fit bulk susceptibility and specific heat data. The apparent return to Fermi-liquid behavior observed below 1 K is manifested in the vanishing of P(χ) as χ\to \infty, suggesting the absence of strong magnetic response at low energies. Our results indicate the need for an extension of some current theories of disorder-driven NFL behavior in order to incorporate this low-temperature crossover.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

One-Particle Spectral Properties of Mott-Hubbard Insulators

We use an exact holon and spinon Landau-liquid functional which describes the holon - spinon interactions at all scattering orders, to study correlation functions of integrable multicomponent many-particle problems showing both linear and non-linear energy bands. We consider specific cases when the dominant non-linear band terms are quadratic and apply our results to the evaluation of the 1D Hubbard model correlation functions beyond conformal-field theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗