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Federico Becca

Publications and source records attributed to Federico Becca.

126 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

The resonating valence bond wave functions in quantum antiferromagnets

Projected-BCS wave functions have been proposed as the paradigm for the understanding of disordered spin states (spin liquids). Here we investigate the properties of these wave functions showing how Luttinger liquids, dimerized states, and gapped spin liquids may be described by the same class of wave functions, which, therefore, represent an extremely flexible variational tool. A close connection between spin liquids and

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Variational description of Mott insulators

The Gutzwiller wave function for a strongly correlated model can, if supplemented with a long-range Jastrow factor, provide a proper variational description of Mott insulators, so far unavailable. We demonstrate this concept in the prototypical one-dimensional $t-t^\prime$ Hubbard model, where at half filling we reproduce all known phases, namely the ordinary Mott undimerized insulator with power-law spin correlations at small $t^\prime/t$, the spin-gapped metal above a critical $t^\prime/t$ and small $U$, and the dimerized Mott insulator at large repulsion.

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d-wave pairing in lightly doped Mott insulators

We define a suitable quantity $Z_c$ that measures the pairing strength of two electrons added to the ground state wave function by means of the anomalous part of the one-particle Green's function. $Z_c$ discriminates between systems described by one-electron states, like ordinary metals and band insulators, for which $Z_c=0$, and systems where the single particle picture does not hold, like superconductors and resonating valence bond insulators, for which $Z_c \ne 0$. By using a numerically exact projection technique for the Hubbard model at $U/t=4$, a finite value of $Z_c$, with d-wave symmetrry, is found at half filling and in the lightly doped regime, thus emphasizing a qualitatively new feature coming from electronic correlation.

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Freezing and large time scales induced by geometrical frustration

We investigate the properties of an effective Hamiltonian with competing interactions involving spin and chirality variables, relevant for the description of the {\it trimerized} version of the spin-1/2 {\it kagome} antiferromagnet. Using classical Monte Carlo simulations, we show that remarkable behaviors develop at very low temperatures. Through an {\it order by disorder} mechanism, the low-energy states are characterized by a dynamical freezing of the chiralities, which decouples the lattice into ``dimers'' and ``triangles'' of antiferromagnetically coupled spins. Under the presence of an external magnetic field, the particular topology of the chiralities induces a very slow spin dynamics, reminiscent of what happens in ordinary spin glasses.

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Suppression of Dimer Correlations in the Two-Dimensional $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg Model: an Exact Diagonalization Study

We present an exact diagonalization study of the ground state of the spin-half $J_1{-}J_2$ model. Dimer correlation functions and the susceptibility associated to the breaking of the translational invariance are calculated for the $4\times 4$ and the $6\times 6$ clusters. These results -- especially when compared to the one dimensional case, where the occurrence of a dimerized phase for large enough frustration is well established -- suggest either a homogeneous spin liquid or, possibly, a dimerized state with a rather small order parameter.

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Ground State of a Heisenberg Chain with Next-Nearest-Neighbor Bond Alternation

We investigate the ground-state properties of the spin-half $J_1{-}J_2$ Heisenberg chain with a next-nearest-neighbor spin-Peierls dimerization using conformal field theory and Lanczos exact diagonalizations. In agreement with the results of a recent bosonization analysis by Sarkar and Sen, we find that for small frustration ($J_2/J_1$) the system is in a Luttinger spin-fluid phase, with gapless excitations, and a finite spin-wave velocity. In the regime of strong frustration the ground state is spontaneously dimerized and the bond alternation reduces the triplet gap, leading to a slight enhancement of the critical point separating the Luttinger phase from the gapped one. An accurate determination of the phase boundary is obtained numerically from the study of the excitation spectrum.

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Theory of spin density profile in the magnetization plateaus of SrCu_2(BO_3)_2

The two-dimensional spin-gap system ${\rm SrCu_2(BO_3)_2}$ shows unique physical properties due to the low-dimensionality character and the strong quantum fluctuations. Experimentally, 1/8-, 1/4-, and 1/3-plateaus have been observed in the magnetization curve under magnetic fields up to 70 Tesla, and the 1/2-plateau is expected to be stabilized at higher magnetic fields. We argue that spin-lattice effects are necessary to describe the superstructures at the plateaus, and we propose a simple microscopic model of spins interacting adiabatically with the lattice to reproduce the main features of the recent experimental results by nuclear magnetic resonance.

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Tetramerisation of a frustrated spin-1/2 chain

We investigate a model of a frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain coupled to adiabatic phonons with a general form of magnetoelastic coupling. For large enough frustration and lattice coupling a new tetramerised phase with three different bond lengths is found. We argue that the zig-zag spin-1/2 chain LiV$_2$O$_5$ might be a good candidate to observe such a phase.

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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.

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Peierls-like transition induced by frustration in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet

We show that the introduction of frustration into the spin-1/2 two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a square lattice via a next-nearest neighbor exchange interaction can lead to a Peierls-like transition, from a tetragonal to an orthorhombic phase, when the spins are coupled to adiabatic phonons. The two different orthorhombic ground states define an Ising order parameter, which is expected to lead to a finite temperature transition. Implications for ${\rm Li_2VOSiO_4}$, the first realization of that model, will be discussed.

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Quantum Phase Transition in Coupled Spin Ladders

The ground state of an array of coupled, spin-half, antiferromagnetic ladders is studied using spin-wave theory, exact diagonalization (up to 36 sites) and quantum Monte Carlo techniques (up to 256 sites). Our results clearly indicate the occurrence of a zero-temperature phase transition between a Néel ordered and a non-magnetic phase at a finite value of the inter-ladder coupling ($α_c\simeq0.3$). This transition is marked by remarkable changes in the structure of the excitation spectrum.

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Stripes and spin-incommensurabilities are favored by lattice anisotropies

Structural distortions in cuprate materials give a natural origin for anisotropies in electron properties. We study a modified one-band t-J model in which we allow for different hoppings and antiferromagnetic couplings in the two spatial directions ($t_x \ne t_y$ and $J_x \ne J_y$). Incommensurate peaks in the spin structure factor show up only in the presence of a lattice anisotropy, whereas charge correlations, indicating enhanced fluctuations at incommensurate wave vectors, are almost unaffected with respect to the isotropic case.

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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.

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Nagaoka ferromagnetism in the two-dimensional infinite-U Hubbard model

We present different numerical calculations based on variational quantum Monte Carlo simulations supporting a ferromagnetic ground-state for finite and small hole densities in the two-dimensional infinite-$U$ Hubbard model. Moreover, by studying the energies of different total spin sectors, these calculations strongly suggest that the paramagnetic phase is unstable against a phase with a partial polarization for large hole densities $δ\sim 0.40$ with evidence for a second-order transition to the paramagnetic large doping phase.

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The Mott Metal-Insulator transition in the half-filled Hubbard model on the Triangular Lattice

We investigate the metal-insulator transition in the half-filled Hubbard model on a two-dimensional triangular lattice using both the Kotliar-Ruckenstein slave-boson technique, and exact numerical diagonalization of finite clusters. Contrary to the case of the square lattice, where the perfect nesting of the Fermi surface leads to a metal-insulator transition at arbitrarily small values of U, always accompanied by antiferromagnetic ordering, on the triangular lattice, due to the lack of perfect nesting, the transition takes place at a finite value of U, and frustration induces a non-trivial competition among different magnetic phases. Indeed, within the mean-field approximation in the slave-boson approach, as the interaction grows the paramagnetic metal turns into a metallic phase with incommensurate spiral ordering. Increasing further the interaction, a linear spin-density-wave is stabilized, and finally for strong coupling the latter phase undergoes a first-order transition towards an antiferromagnetic insulator. No trace of the intermediate phases is instead seen in the exact diagonalization results, indicating a transition between a paramagnetic metal and an antiferromagnetic insulator.

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Stability of d-wave superconductivity in the t-J model

We use a recently developed technique, which allows to perform few Lanczos steps on a given wavefunction even for large system sizes, to investigate the $t{-}J$ model in the physical parameter region and to check the stability of the BCS d-wave variational wavefunction. Our statistical Lanczos algorithm, which extends and improves the one Lanczos step, has been extensively tested on the small L=18 sites cluster where many Lanczos iterations can be performed exactly. In this case, at doping $δ\sim 10%$ the BCS wavefunction represents a very good initial state to achieve extremely accurate energies and correlation functions with few Lanczos iterations. For large sizes ($L\le 98$) the behavior is similar: the low-energy d-wave order parameter $P_d$ is weakly affected by a couple of Lanczos iterations in the low doping $δ\sim 10%$ region, whereas the energy is considerably lowered. As a further test of our calculation we have computed the variance of the Hamiltonian $ΔE_p=(< \hat{H}^2 >-< \hat{H} >^2)/L^2$ on the BCS wavefunction with $p=0,1,2$ Lanczos steps. For large $p$, when the Lanczos algorithm converges to the exact ground state, the variance vanishes exponentially with increasing $p$. The remarkable reduction of the variance, observed for $p=1,2$ Lanczos steps even for the largest lattice size considered, suggests a smooth and rapid convergence to the exact ground state. These results support the existence of off-diagonal long-range d-wave superconducting order in the two-dimensional $t{-}J$ model.

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