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Alberto Parola

Publications and source records attributed to Alberto Parola.

64 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2002

Projected BCS Wave Functions for Low Dimensional Frustrated Spin Systems

Twenty-five years after the first proposal, the question whether the ground state of a frustrated spin-half system is well described by a spin-liquid Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) wave function is still controversial. A physically transparent representation of a RVB state can be obtained in fermionic representation with a standard BCS-type pairing wave function, working in the subspace with fixed number of electrons and no double occupancies. In this work, we show that, using this variational wave function with a careful parameterization of the pairing function, it is possible to obtain an extremely accurate {\em ansatz} for the ground state of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet with next-nearest neighbors interactions ($J_{1}{-}J_{2}$ model) in the regime of strong frustration. Indeed, in the spin-half realization of this model, it is known that the combined effect of frustration and zero-point motion interferes with the mechanism of spontaneously broken symmetry, giving rise to a non-magnetic phase of purely quantum-mechanical nature ($J_2/J_1\simeq 0.5$). This wave function is proposed to represent the generic spin-half RVB ground state in spin liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2001

Resonating Valence Bond Wave Functions for Strongly Frustrated Spin Systems

The Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) theory for two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets is shown to be the correct paradigm for large enough ``quantum frustration''. This scenario, proposed long time ago but never confirmed by microscopic calculations, is very strongly supported by a new type of variational wave function, which is extremely close to the exact ground state of the $J_1{-}J_2$ Heisenberg model for $0.4 \lesssim J_2/J_1\lesssim 0.5$. This wave function is proposed to represent the generic spin-half RVB ground state in spin liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2000

The Phase Diagram of Correlated Electrons in a Lattice of Berry Molecules

A model for correlated electrons in a lattice with local additional spin--1 degrees of freedom inducing constrained hopping, is studied both in the low density limit and at quarter filling. We show that in both 1D and 2D two particles form a bound state even in presence of a repulsive U<U_c. A picture of a dilute Bose gas, leading to off-diagonal long range order (LRO) in 2D (quasi-LRO in 1D), is supported by quantitative calculations in 1D which allow for a determination of the phase diagram.

cond-mat↗
arXiv2000

The phase diagram of quantum systems: Heisenberg antiferromagnets

A novel approach for studying phase transitions in systems with quantum degrees of freedom is discussed. Starting from the microscopic hamiltonian of a quantum model, we first derive a set of exact differential equations for the free energy and the correlation functions describing the effects of fluctuations on the thermodynamics of the system. These equations reproduce the full renormalization group structure in the neighborhood of a critical point keeping, at the same time, full information on the non universal properties of the model. As a concrete application we investigate the phase diagram of a Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a staggered external magnetic field. At long wavelengths the known relationship to the Quantum Non Linear Sigma Model naturally emerges from our approach. By representing the two point function in an approximate analytical form, we obtain a closed partial differential equation which is then solved numerically. The results in three dimensions are in good agreement with available Quantum Monte Carlo simulations and series expansions. More refined approximations to the general framework presented here and few applications to other models are briefly discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2000

A microscopic approach to phase transitions in quantum systems

We present a new theoretical approach for the study of the phase diagram of interacting quantum particles: bosons, fermions or spins. In the neighborhood of a phase transition, the expected renormalization group structure is recovered both near the upper and lower critical dimension. Information on the microscopic hamiltonian is also retained and no mapping to effective field theories is needed. A simple approximation to our formally exact equations is studied for the spin-$S$ Heisenberg model in three dimensions where explicit results for critical exponents, critical temperature and coexistence curve are obtained.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv1998

Valence-bond states in dynamical Jahn-Teller molecular systems

We discuss a hopping model of electrons between idealized molecular sites with local orbital degeneracy and dynamical Jahn-Teller effect, for crystal field environments of sufficiently high symmetry. For the Mott-insulating case (one electron per site and large Coulomb repulsions), in the simplest two-fold degenerate situation, we are led to consider a particular exchange hamiltonian, describing two isotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg problems coupled by a quartic term on equivalent bonds. This twin-exchange hamiltonian applies to a physical regime in which the inter-orbital singlet is the lowest-energy intermediate state available for hopping. This regime is favored by a relatively strong electron-phonon coupling. Using variational arguments, a large-N limit, and exact diagonalization data, we find that the ground state, in the one dimensional case, is a solid valence bond state. The situation in the two dimensional case is less clear. Finally, the behavior of the system upon hole doping is studied in one dimension.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv1998

Structure and stability of bosonic clouds: alkali atoms with negative scattering length

We investigate the form and stability of a cloud of atoms confined in a harmonic trap when the scattering length is negative. We find that, besides the known low density metastable solution, a new branch of Bose condensate appears at higher density when non locality effects in the attractive part are taken into account. The transition between the two classes of solutions as a function of the number $N$ of atoms can be either sharp or smooth according to the strength and range of the attractive interaction. Use of tight traps is favorable for investigating the evolution of the system as the strength of the effective interaction increases with $N$.

cond-mat↗
arXiv1995

Phase Diagram of a Model of Correlated Hopping of Electrons in a Lattice of Berry Molecules

The $1D$ phase diagram of a model for correlated hopping of electrons in a lattice of Berry phase molecules is presented. Electrons hop in presence of an extra orbital degree of freedom at each site. This is mimicked as a spin-1 variable whose allowed states depend on the electron occupancy so as to take into account the orbital degeneracies of different molecular occupancies. In the $1D$ case we find that at low electron densities $n<<1$ there is a region with dominant superconducting correlations surviving an additional repulsive on-site interaction $U$ as strong as the bandwidth, $W=4t$. The critical value $U_c$ of $U$ below which superconductivity is found to be dominant decreases with increasing density $n$. For $n=1/2$ we find $U_c/t\approx 1$, whereas at $n=1$ (half-filling) our (less accurate) results are compatible with $U_c/t\approx 0$. For $U>U_c(n)$ and away from half-filling ($n\neq 1$) the system is metallic with dominant $2k_F$ charge density wave (CDW) correlations. At half-filling a charge gap opens for $U>U_c$ and the system becomes an insulator. A spin-gap characterizes the phase-diagram for all densities and for all values of $U$, even in the metallic regime $U>U_c$.

cond-mat↗