arXiv subjects

Christoph P. Hofmann

Publications and source records attributed to Christoph P. Hofmann.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Weakly bound states in heterogeneous waveguides

We study the spectrum of the Helmholtz equation in a two-dimensional infinite waveguide, containing a weak heterogeneity localized at an internal point, and obeying Dirichlet boundary conditions at its border. We prove that, when the heterogeneity corresponds to a locally denser material, the lowest eigenvalue of the spectrum falls below the continuum threshold and a bound state appears, localized at the heterogeneity. We devise a rigorous perturbation scheme and derive the exact expression for the energy to third order in the heterogeneity.

math-ph↗

arXiv2015

Cubic Ideal Ferromagnets at Low Temperature and Weak Magnetic Field

The low-temperature series for the free energy density, pressure, magnetization and susceptibility of cubic ideal ferromagnets in weak external magnetic fields are discussed within the effective Lagrangian framework up to three loops. The structure of the simple, body-centered, and face-centered cubic lattice is taken into account explicitly. The expansion involves integer and half-integer powers of the temperature. The corresponding coefficients depend on the magnetic field and on low-energy effective constants that can be expressed in terms of microscopic quantities. Our formulas may also serve as efficiency or consistency check for other techniques like Green's function methods, where spurious terms in the low-temperature expansion have appeared. We explore the sign and magnitude of the spin-wave interaction in the pressure, magnetization and susceptibility, and emphasize that our effective field theory approach is fully systematic and rigorous.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Goldstone Boson Interaction in D=2+1 (Pseudo-)Lorentz-Invariant Systems with a Spontaneously Broken Internal Rotation Symmetry

The low-temperature properties of systems characterized by a spontaneously broken internal rotation symmetry, O($N$) $\to$ O($N$-1), are governed by Goldstone bosons and can be derived systematically within effective Lagrangian field theory. In the present study we consider systems living in two spatial dimensions, and evaluate their partition function at low temperatures up to three-loop order. Although our results are valid for any such system, here we use magnetic terminology, i.e., we refer to quantum spin systems. We discuss the sign of the Goldstone boson interaction in the pressure, staggered magnetization, and susceptibility as a function of an external staggered field for general $N$. As it turns out, the $d$=2+1 quantum XY model ($N$=2) and the $d$=2+1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet ($N$=3), are rather special, as they represent the only cases where the spin-wave interaction in the pressure is repulsive in the whole parameter regime where the effective expansion applies. Remarkably, the $d$=2+1 XY model is the only system where the interaction contribution in the staggered magnetization (susceptibility) tends to positive (negative) values at low temperatures and weak external field.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Differences and analogies between quantum chromodynamics and ferromagnets

The low-energy physics of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and ferromagnets is dominated by Goldstone bosons. While the effective theory of QCD - chiral perturbation theory - is well established in the particle physics community, the systematic studies of ferromagnetic systems within the effective Lagrangian framework are not well-known. We analyze the low-temperature properties of ferromagnets in one, two and three space dimensions up to three-loop order in the effective expansion, i.e., beyond the accuracy of any previous results obtained with conventional condensed matter methods. In particular, in the nonrelativistic domain, the effective method perfectly works in one space dimension.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Extracting Physics from Topologically Frozen Markov Chains

In Monte Carlo simulations with a local update algorithm, the auto-correlation with respect to the topological charge tends to become very long. In the extreme case one can only perform reliable measurements within fixed sectors. We investigate approaches to extract physical information from such topologically frozen simulations. Recent results in a set of sigma-models and gauge theories are encouraging. In a suitable regime, the correct value of some observable can be evaluated to a good accuracy. In addition there are ways to estimate the value of the topological susceptibility.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2014

Effective Lagrangians for quantum many-body systems

The low-energy and low-momentum dynamics of systems with a spontaneously broken continuous symmetry is dominated by the ensuing Nambu-Goldstone bosons. It can be conveniently encoded in a model-independent effective field theory whose structure is fixed by symmetry up to a set of effective coupling constants. We construct the most general effective Lagrangian for the Nambu-Goldstone bosons of spontaneously broken global internal symmetry up to the fourth order in derivatives. Rotational invariance and spatial dimensionality of one, two or three are assumed in order to obtain compact explicit expressions, but our method is completely general and can be applied without modifications to condensed matter systems with a discrete space group as well as to higher-dimensional theories. The general low-energy effective Lagrangian for relativistic systems follows as a special case. We also discuss the effects of explicit symmetry breaking and classify the corresponding terms in the Lagrangian. Diverse examples are worked out in order to make the results accessible to a wide theoretical physics community.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Partition Function in One, Two and Three Spatial Dimensions from Effective Lagrangian Field Theory

The systematic effective Lagrangian method was first formulated in the context of the strong interaction: chiral perturbation theory (CHPT) is the effective theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). It was then pointed out that the method can be transferred to the nonrelativistic domain -- in particular, to describe the low-energy properties of ferromagnets. Interestingly, whereas for Lorentz-invariant systems the effective Lagrangian method fails in one spatial dimension ($d_s$=1), it perfectly works for nonrelativistic systems in $d_s$=1. In the present brief review, we give an outline of the method and then focus on the partition function for ferromagnetic spin chains, ferromagnetic films and ferromagnetic crystals up to three loops in the perturbative expansion -- an accuracy never achieved by conventional condensed matter methods. We then compare ferromagnets in $d_s$=1,2,3 with the behavior of QCD at low temperatures by considering the pressure and the order parameter. The two apparently very different systems (ferromagnets and QCD) are related from a universal point of view based on the spontaneously broken symmetry. In either case, the low-energy dynamics is described by an effective theory containing Goldstone bosons as basic degrees of freedom.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Interpretation of topologically restricted measurements in lattice sigma-models

We consider models with topological sectors, and difficulties with their Monte Carlo simulation. In particular we are concerned with the situation where a simulation has an extremely long auto-correlation time with respect to the topological charge. Then reliable numerical measurements are possible only within single topological sectors. The challenge is to assemble such restricted measurements to obtain an approximation for the full-fledged result, which corresponds to the correct sampling over the entire set of configurations. Under certain conditions this is possible, and it provides in addition an estimate for the topological susceptibility chi_t. Moreover, the evaluation of chi_t might be feasible even from data in just one topological sector, based on the correlation of the topological charge density. Here we present numerical test results for these techniques in the framework of non-linear sigma-models.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2014

Baryon magnetic moments in large-N_c chiral perturbation theory: Effects of the decuplet-octet mass difference and flavor symmetry breaking

The magnetic and transition magnetic moments of the ground-state baryons are computed in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory in the large-$N_c$ limit, where N_c is the number of colors. SU(3) symmetry breaking is systematically studied twofold: On the one hand, one-loop nonanalytic corrections of orders m_q^{1/2} and m_q ln m_q are included, with contributions of baryon intermediate states from both flavor octet and flavor decuplet multiplets, assuming degeneracy between baryon states within a given flavor multiplet but nondegeneracy between baryons of different multiplets. On the other hand, perturbative SU(3) symmetry breaking is also analyzed by including all relevant leading-order operators that explicitly break SU(3) at linear order. The resultant expressions are compared with the available experimental data and with other determinations in the context of conventional heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory for three flavors of light quarks and at the physical value $N_c=3$. The agreement reached is quite impressive.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Systematic Effective Field Theory Analysis of the D=2+1 Quantum XY Model at Low Temperatures

The low-temperature properties of the (2+1)-dimensional quantum XY model are studied within the framework of effective Lagrangians up to three-loop order. At zero temperature, the system is characterized by a spontaneously broken spin rotation symmetry, O(2) $\to$ 1, where the corresponding Goldstone bosons are the spin waves or magnons. Even though there is no spontaneously broken order at finite $T$, the low-temperature behavior of the system is still governed by the spin waves. The partition function is evaluated and various thermodynamic quantities, including the order parameter, are derived in the presence of a weak external field. In particular, we show that the spin-wave interaction is repulsive at low temperatures, its magnitude depending on the strength of the external field. We compare our results with those for the (2+1)-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model which, at T=0, exhibits the spontaneously broken spin rotation symmetry O(3) $\to$ O(2).

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Thermodynamics of Ferromagnetic Spin Chains in a Magnetic Field: Impact of the Spin-Wave Interaction

The thermodynamic properties of ferromagnetic spin chains have been the subject of many publications. Still, the problem of how the spin-wave interaction manifest itself in these low-temperature series has been neglected. Using the method of effective Lagrangians, we explicitly evaluate the partition function of ferromagnetic spin chains at low temperatures and in the presence of a magnetic field up to three loops in the perturbative expansion where the spin-wave interaction sets in. We discuss in detail the renormalization and numerical evaluation of a particular three-loop graph and derive the low-temperature series for the free energy density, energy density, heat capacity, entropy density, as well as the magnetization and the susceptibility. In the low-temperature expansion for the free energy density, the spin-wave interaction starts manifesting itself at order $T^{5/2}$. In the pressure, the coefficient of the $T^{5/2}$-term is positive, indicating that the spin-wave interaction is repulsive. While it is straightforward to go up to three-loop order in the effective loop expansion, the analogous calculation on the basis of conventional condensed matter methods, such as spin-wave theory, appears to be beyond reach.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Low-Temperature Properties of Ferromagnetic Spin Chains in a Magnetic Field

The thermodynamic properties of ferromagnetic spin chains have been analyzed with a variety of microscopic methods over the years: Bethe ansatz, spin-wave theory, Schwinger-boson mean-field theory, Green functions and renormalization group methods. Surprisingly, in all these different studies, to the best of our knowledge, the manifestation of the spin-wave interaction in the low-temperature series for the thermodynamic quantities has been ignored. In the present work, we address this problem by following a different path, based on the systematic effective Lagrangian method. We evaluate the partition function up to two-loop order and derive the low-temperature expansion of the energy density, entropy density, heat capacity, magnetization and susceptibility in the presence of a weak external magnetic field. Remarkably, the spin-wave interaction only manifests itself beyond two-loop order. In particular, there is no term of order $T^2$ in the low-temperature series of the free energy density. This is the analog of Dyson's statement that, in the case of three-dimensional ideal ferromagnets, there is no term of order $T^4$ in the low-temperature series of the free energy density. The range of validity of our series is critically examined in view of the Mermin-Wagner theorem. We also compare our results with the condensed matter literature and point out that there are some misleading statements.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Renormalization of the baryon axial vector current in large-N_c chiral perturbation theory: Effects of the decuplet-octet mass difference and flavor symmetry breaking

The baryon axial vector current is computed at one-loop order in large-N_c baryon chiral perturbation theory, where N_c is the number of colors. Loop graphs with octet and decuplet intermediate states are systematically incorporated into the analysis and the effects of the decuplet-octet mass difference and SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking are accounted for. As expected, large-N_c cancellations between different one-loop graphs are observed as a consequence of the large-N_c spin-flavor symmetry of QCD baryons. Fitting our analytical formulas against experimental data on baryon semileptonic decays and the strong decays of decuplet baryons, a detailed numerical analysis regarding the determination of the basic parameters of large-N_c baryon chiral perturbation theory as well as the extraction of the baryon axial vector couplings is performed. The large-N_c baryon chiral perturbation theory predictions are in very good agreement both with the expectations from the 1/N_c expansion and with the experimental data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Thermodynamics of Two-Dimensional Ideal Ferromagnets - Three-Loop Analysis

Within the effective Lagrangian framework, we explicitly evaluate the partition function of two-dimensional ideal ferromagnets up to three loops at low temperatures and in the presence of a weak external magnetic field. The low-temperature series for the free energy density, energy density, heat capacity, entropy density, as well as the magnetization are given and their range of validity is critically examined in view of the Mermin-Wagner theorem. The calculation involves the renormalization and numerical evaluation of a particular three-loop graph which is discussed in detail. Interestingly, in the low-temperature series for the two-dimensional ideal ferromagnet, the spin-wave interaction manifests itself in the form of logarithmic terms. In the free energy density the leading such term is of order $T^4 \ln T$ -- remarkably, in the case of the three-dimensional ideal ferromagnet no logarithmic terms arise in the low-temperature series. While the present study demonstrates that it is straightforward to consider effects up to three-loop order in the effective field theory framework, this precision seems to be far beyond the reach of microscopic methods such as modified spin-wave theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Low-Temperature Properties of Two-Dimensional Ideal Ferromagnets

The manifestation of the spin-wave interaction in the low-temperature series of the partition function has been investigated extensively over more than seven decades in the case of the three-dimensional ferromagnet. Surprisingly, the same problem regarding ferromagnets in two spatial dimensions, to the best of our knowledge, has never been addressed in a systematic way so far. In the present paper the low-temperature properties of two-dimensional ideal ferromagnets are analyzed within the model-independent method of effective Lagrangians. The low-temperature expansion of the partition function is evaluated up to two-loop order and the general structure of this series is discussed, including the effect of a weak external magnetic field. Our results apply to two-dimensional ideal ferromagnets which exhibit a spontaneously broken spin rotation symmetry O(3) $\to $ O(2) and are defined on a square, honeycomb, triangular or Kagomé lattice. Remarkably, the spin-wave interaction only sets in at three-loop order. In particular, there is no interaction term of order $T^3$ in the low-temperature series for the free energy density. This is the analog of the statement that, in the case of three-dimensional ferromagnets, there is no interaction term of order $T^4$ in the free energy density. We also provide a careful discussion of the implications of the Mermin-Wagner theorem in the present context and thereby put our low-temperature expansions on safe grounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Dynamical Mass Generation and Confinement in Maxwell-Chern-Simons Planar Quantum Electrodynamics

We study the non-perturbative phenomena of Dynamical Mass Generation and Confinement by truncating at the non-perturbative level the Schwinger-Dyson equations in Maxwell-Chern-Simons planar quantum electrodynamics. We obtain numerical solutions for the fermion propagator in Landau gauge within the so-called rainbow approximation. A comparison with the ordinary theory without the Chern-Simons term is presented.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Spontaneous Magnetization of an Ideal Ferromagnet: Beyond Dyson's Analysis

Using the low-energy effective field theory for magnons, we systematically evaluate the partition function of the O(3) ferromagnet up to three loops. Dyson, in his pioneering microscopic analysis of the Heisenberg model, showed that the spin-wave interaction starts manifesting itself in the low-temperature expansion of the spontaneous magnetization of an ideal ferromagnet only at order $T^4$. Although several authors tried to go beyond Dyson's result, to the best of our knowledge, a fully systematic and rigorous investigation of higher order terms induced by the spin-wave interaction, has never been achieved. As we demonstrate in the present paper, it is straightforward to evaluate the partition function of an ideal ferromagnet beyond Dyson's analysis, using effective Lagrangian techniques. In particular, we show that the next-to-leading contribution to the spontaneous magnetization resulting from the spin-wave interaction already sets in at order $T^{9/2}$ -- in contrast to all claims that have appeared before in the literature. Remarkably, the corresponding coefficient is completely determined by the leading-order effective Lagrangian and is thus independent of the anisotropies of the cubic lattice. We also consider even higher-order corrections and thereby solve -- once and for all -- the question of how the spin-wave interaction in an ideal ferromagnet manifests itself in the spontaneous magnetization beyond the Dyson term.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Antiferromagnets at low Temperatures

The low-temperature properties of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet in 2+1 space-time dimensions are analyzed within the framework of effective Lagrangians. It is shown that the magnon-magnon interaction is very weak and repulsive, manifesting itself through a term proportional to five powers of the temperature in the pressure. The structure of the low-temperature series for antiferromagnets in 2+1 dimensions is compared with the structure of the analogous series for antiferromagnets in 3+1 dimensions. The model-independent and systematic effective field theory approach clearly proves to be superior to conventional condensed matter methods such as spin-wave theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗