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Kedar Damle

Publications and source records attributed to Kedar Damle.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Néel to valence-bond solid transition on the honeycomb lattice: Evidence for deconfined criticality

We study a spin-1/2 SU(2) model on the honeycomb lattice with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange $J$ that favors Néel order, and competing 6-spin interactions $Q$ which favor a valence bond solid (VBS) state in which the bond-energies order at the "columnar" wavevector ${\mathbf K} = (2π/3,-2π/3)$. We present quantum Monte-Carlo evidence for a direct continuous quantum phase transition between Néel and VBS states, with exponents and logarithmic violations of scaling consistent with those at analogous deconfined critical points on the square lattice. Although this strongly suggests a description in terms of deconfined criticality, the measured three-fold anisotropy of the phase of the VBS order parameter shows unusual near-marginal behaviour at the critical point.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Vacancy-induced spin textures and their interactions in a classical spin liquid

Motivated by experiments on the archetypal frustrated magnet SrCr$_{9p}$Ga$_{12-9p}$O$_{19}$ (SCGO), we study the classical Heisenberg model on the pyrochlore slab (Kagomé bilayer) lattice with site-dilution $x=1-p$. This allows us to address generic aspects of the physics of non-magnetic vacancies in a classical spin liquid. We explicitly demonstrate that the pure ($x=0$) system remains a spin-liquid down to the lowest temperatures, with an unusual {\em non-monotonic} temperature dependence of the susceptibility, which even turns diamagnetic for the apical spins between the two kagome layers. For $x> 0$ but small, the low temperature magnetic response of the system is most naturally described in terms of the properties of spatially extended spin textures that cloak an "orphan" $S=3/2$ Cr$^{3+}$ spin in direct proximity to a pair of missing sites belonging to the same triangular simplex. In the $T \rightarrow 0$ limit, these orphan-texture complexes each carry a net magnetization that is exactly half the magnetic moment of an individual spin of the undiluted system. Furthermore, we demonstrate that they interact via an entropic {\em temperature dependent} {\em pair-wise exchange interaction} $J_{eff}(T,\vec{r}) \sim T {\mathcal J} (\vec{r} \sqrt{T})$ that has a logarithmic form at short-distances and decays exponentially beyond a thermal correlation length $ξ(T) \sim 1/\sqrt{T}$. The sign of $J_{eff}$ depends on whether the two orphan spins belong to the same Kagome layer or not. We provide a detailed analytical account of these properties using an effective field theory approach specifically tailored for the problem at hand. These results are in quantitative agreement with large-scale Monte Carlo numerics.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Antiferromagnetic order in systems with doublet $S_{\rm tot}=1/2$ ground states

We use projector Quantum Monte-Carlo methods to study the $S_{\rm tot}=1/2$ doublet ground states of two dimensional $S=1/2$ antiferromagnets on a $L \times L$ square lattice with an odd number of sites $N_{\rm tot}=L^2$. We compute the ground state spin texture $Φ^z(\vec{r}) = _{\uparrow}$ in $|G>_{\uparrow}$, the $S^z_{\rm tot}=1/2$ component of this doublet, and investigate the relationship between $n^z$, the thermodynamic limit of the staggered component of this ground state spin texture, and $m$, the thermodynamic limit of the magnitude of the staggered magnetization vector of the same system in the singlet ground state that obtains for even $N_{\rm tot}$. We find a univeral relationship between the two, that is independent of the microscopic details of the lattice level Hamiltonian and can be well approximated by a polynomial interpolation formula: $n^z \approx (1/3 - \frac{a}{2} -\frac{b}{4}) m + am^2+bm^3$, with $a \approx 0.288$ and $b\approx -0.306$. We also find that the full spin texture $Φ^z(\vec{r})$ is itself dominated by Fourier modes near the antiferromagnetic wavevector in a universal way. On the analytical side, we explore this question using spin-wave theory, a simple mean field model written in terms of the total spin of each sublattice, and a rotor model for the dynamics of $\vec{n}$. We find that spin-wave theory reproduces this universality of $Φ^z(\vec{r})$ and gives $n^z = (1-α-β/S)m + (α/S)m^2 +{\mathcal O}(S^{-2})$ with $α\approx 0.013$ and $β\approx 1.003$ for spin-$S$ antiferromagnets, while the sublattice-spin mean field theory and the rotor model both give $n^z = 1/3 m$ for $S=1/2$ antiferromagnets. We argue that this latter relationship becomes asymptotically exact in the limit of infinitely long-range {\em unfrustrated} exchange interactions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Resonating valence bond wavefunctions and classical interacting dimer models

We relate properties of nearest-neighbour resonating valence bond (nnRVB) wavefunctions for $SU(g)$ spin systems on two dimensional bipartite lattices to those of fully-packed classical dimer models with potential energy $V$ on the same lattice. We define a cluster expansion of $V$ in terms of $n$-body potentials $V_n$, which are recursively determined from the nnRVB wavefunction on {\em finite subgraphs} of the original lattice. The magnitude of the $n$-body interaction $V_n$ ($n>1$) is of order ${\mathcal O}(g^{-(n-1)})$ for small $g^{-1}$, while $V_1$ reduces to a constant due to the fully-packed nature of the model. At leading non-trivial order on the square lattice, the interacting dimer model only has two-body interactions $V_2(g)$ that favour two parallel dimers on elementary plaquettes. Setting $g=2$ and using the results of earlier work on this interacting dimer model, we find that the long-distance behaviour of the bond-energy correlation function is dominated by an oscillatory term that decays as $ 1/|\vec{r}|^α$ with $α\approx 1.22$ for SU(2) spins. This result is in remarkable quantitative agreement with earlier direct numerical studies of the corresponding wavefunction, which give $α\approx 1.20$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Phase transitions in the distribution of the Andreev conductance of superconductor-metal junctions with multiple transverse modes

We compute analytically the full distribution of Andreev conductance $G_{\mathrm{NS}}$ of a metal-superconductor interface with a large number $N_c$ of transverse modes, using a random matrix approach. The probability distribution $\mathcal{P}(G_{\mathrm{NS}},N_c)$ in the limit of large $N_c$ displays a Gaussian behavior near the average value $ = (2-\sqrt{2}) N_c$ and asymmetric power-law tails in the two limits of very small and very large $G_{\mathrm{NS}}$. In addition, we find a novel third regime sandwiched between the central Gaussian peak and the power law tail for large $G_{\mathrm{NS}}$. Weakly non-analytic points separate these four regimes---these are shown to be consequences of three phase transitions in an associated Coulomb gas problem.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Vacancy-induced spin texture in a one dimensional $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We study the effect of a missing spin in a one dimensional $S=1/2$ antiferromagnet with nearest neighbour Heisenberg exchange $J$ and six-spin coupling $Q=4qJ$ using Quantum Monte-Carlo (QMC) and bosonization techniques. For $q< q_c \approx 0.04$, the system is in a quasi-long range ordered power-law antiferromagnetic phase, which gives way to a valence-bond solid state that spontaneously breaks lattice translation symmetry for $q> q_c$. We study the ground state spin texture $Φ(r) = $ in the the $S^z_{tot}=1/2$ ground state $|G_{\uparrow}>$ of the system with a missing spin, focusing on the alternating part $N_z(r)$. We find that our QMC results for $N_z$ at $q =q_c$ take on the scaling form expected from bosonization considerations, but violate scaling for $q < q_c$. Within the bosonization approach, such violations of scaling arise from the presence of a marginally irrelevant sine-Gordon interaction, whose effects we calculate using renormalization group (RG) improved perturbation theory. Our field-theoretical predictions are found to agree well with the QMC data for $q < q_c$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Neel to staggered dimer order transition in a generalized honeycomb lattice Heisenberg model

We study a generalized honeycomb lattice spin-1/2 Heisenberg model with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic 2-spin exchange, and competing 4-spin interactions which serve to stabilize a staggered dimer state which breaks lattice rotational symmetry. Using a combination of quantum Monte Carlo numerics, spin wave theory, and bond operator theory, we show that this model undergoes a strong first-order transition between a Neel state and a staggered dimer state upon increasing the strength of the 4-spin interactions. We attribute the strong first order character of this transition to the spinless nature of the core of point-like Z(3) vortices obtained in the staggered dimer state. Unlike in the case of a columnar dimer state, disordering such vortices in the staggered dimer state does not naturally lead to magnetic order, suggesting that, in this model, the dimer and Neel order parameters should be thought of as independent fields as in conventional Landau theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Impurity spin texture at a Néel-Valence Bond Solid critical point in $d=2$ SU(3) quantum antiferromagnets

We study the impurity physics at a continuous quantum phase transition from an SU(3) symmetric Néel ordered state to a valence bond solid state that breaks lattice symmetries, using quantum Monte Carlo techniques. This continuous transition is expected to be an example of `deconfined criticality' in an SU(3) symmetric system. We find that the spin-texture induced by a missing-spin defect at the transition takes on a finite-size scaling form consistent with expectations from standard scaling arguments at a scale-invariant quantum critical point, albeit with significant subleading power-law finite size corrections that we analyze in detail. Together with recently-found logarithmic violations of scaling at similar continuous transitions in the SU(2) case, our results provide indirect evidence for the existence of operators that become marginal as $N$ is reduced to 2 in the field theoretical description of these deconfined critical points.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Fractional spin textures in the frustrated magnet SrCr$_{9p}$Ga$_{12-9p}$O$_{19}$

We consider the archetypal frustrated antiferromagnet SrCr$_{9p}$Ga$_{12-9p}$O$_{19}$ in its well-known spin-liquid state, and demonstrate that a Cr$^{3+}$ spin $S=3/2$ ion in direct proximity to a pair of vacancies (in disordered $p<1$ samples) is cloaked by a spatially extended spin texture that encodes the correlations of the parent spin-liquid. In this spin-liquid regime, the combined object has a magnetic response identical to a classical spin of length $S/2 = 3/4$, which dominates over the small intrinsic susceptibility of the pure system. This fractional-spin texture leaves an unmistakable imprint on the measured $^{71}$Ga nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) lineshapes, which we compute using Monte-Carlo simulations and compare with experimental data.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Generalization of the singlet sector valence bond loop algorithm to antiferromagnetic ground states with total spin $S_{tot}=1/2$

We develop a generalization of the singlet sector valence bond basis projection algorithm of Sandvik, Beach, and Evertz (A. W. Sandvik, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 207203 (2005); K. S. D. Beach and A. W. Sandvik, Nucl. Phys. B750, 142 (2006); A. W. Sandvik and H. G. Evertz, arXiv:0807.0682, unpublished.) to cases in which the ground state of an antiferromagnetic Hamiltonian has total spin $S_{tot} = 1/2$ in a finite size system. We explain how various ground state expectation values may be calculated by generalizations of the estimators developed in the singlet case, and illustrate the power of the method by calculating the ground state spin texture and bond energies in a $L \times L$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet with $L$ odd and free boundaries.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Impurity spin texture at a deconfined quantum critical point

The spin texture surrounding a non-magnetic impurity in a quantum antiferromagnet is a sensitive probe of the novel physics of a class of quantum phase transitions between a Neel ordered phase and a valence bond solid phase in square lattice S=1/2 antiferromagnets. Using a newly developed T=0 Quantum Monte Carlo technique, we compute this spin texture at these transitions and find that it does not obey the universal scaling form expected at a scale invariant quantum critical point. We also identify the precise logarithmic form of these scaling violations. Our results are expected to yield important clues regarding the probable theory of these unconventional transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Semiclassical spin liquid state of easy axis Kagome antiferromagnets

Motivated by recent experiments on Nd-langasite, we consider the effect of strong easy axis single-ion anisotropy $D$ on $S > 3/2$ spins interacting with antiferromagnetic exchange $J$ on the Kagome lattice. When $T \ll DS^2$, the collinear low energy states selected by the anisotropy map on to configurations of the classical Kagome lattice Ising antiferromagnet. However, the low temperature limit is quite different from the cooperative Ising paramagnet that obtains classically for $T \ll JS^2$. We find that sub-leading ${\mathcal O}(J^3S/D^2)$ multi-spin interactions arising from the transverse quantum dynamics result in a crossover from an intermediate temperature classical cooperative Ising paramagnet to a semiclassical spin liquid with distinct short-ranged correlations for $T \ll J^3S/D^2$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Collinear ordering of easy-axis triangular lattice antiferromagnets

Antiferromagnetically coupled moments on the frustrated triangular lattice typically order in a coplanar state at low temperature. Here, we demonstrate that the presence of not-very-large easy axis single ion anisotropy leads to an interesting orientationally ordered collinear state in triangular lattice antiferromagnets with moments $S \ge 3/2$. This ordered state breaks the symmetry of $π/3$ rotations about a lattice site, while leaving intact the translational symmetry of the lattice.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Superfluid Insulator Transitions of Hard-Core Bosons on the Checkerboard Lattice

We study hard-core bosons on the checkerboard lattice with nearest neighbour unfrustrated hopping $t$ and `tetrahedral' plaquette charging energy $U$. Analytical arguments and Quantum Monte Carlo simulations lead us to the conclusion that the system undergoes a zero temperature ($T$) quantum phase transition from a superfluid phase at small $U/t$ to a large $U/t$ Mott insulator phase with $ρ$ = 1/4 for a range of values of the chemical potential $μ$. Further, the quarter-filled insulator breaks lattice translation symmetry in a characteristic four-fold ordering pattern, and occupies a lobe of finite extent in the $μ$-$U/t$ phase diagram. A Quantum Monte-Carlo study slightly away from the tip of the lobe provides evidence for a direct weakly first-order superfluid-insulator transition away from the tip of the lobe. While analytical arguments leads us to conclude that the transition {\em at} the tip of the lobe belongs to a different landau-forbidden second-order universality class, an extrapolation of our numerical results suggests that the size of the first-order jump does not go to zero even at the tip of the lobe.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Unusual liquid state of hard-core bosons on the pyrochlore lattice

We study the physics of hard-core bosons with unfrustrated hopping (t) and nearest-neighbor repulsion (V) on the three dimensional pyrochlore lattice. At half-filling, we demonstrate that the small V/t superfluid state eventually becomes unstable at large enough V/t to an unusual insulating state which displays no broken lattice translation symmetry. Equal time and static density correlators in this insulator are well described by a mapping to electric field correlators in the Coulomb phase of a U(1) lattice gauge theory, allowing us to identify this insulator with a U(1) fractionalized Mott-insulating state. The possibility of observing this phase in suitably designed atom-trap experiments with ultracold atoms is also discussed, as are specific experimental signatures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Magnetization plateaus and sublattice ordering in easy axis Kagome lattice antiferromagnets

We study kagome lattice antiferromagnets where the effects of easy axis single-ion anisotropy ($D$) dominates over the Heisenberg exchange $J$. For $S \ge 3/2$, virtual quantum fluctuations help lift the extensive classical degeneracy. We demonstrate the presence of a one-third magnetization plateau for a broad range of magnetic fields $J^3/D^2 \lesssim B \lesssim JS$ along the easy axis. The fully equilibriated system at low temperature on this plateau develops an unusual {\em nematic} order that breaks sublattice rotation symmetry but not translation symmetry--however, extremely slow dynamics associated with this ordering is expected to lead to glassy freezing of the system on intermediate time-scales.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Variational wavefunction study of the triangular lattice supersolid

We present a variational wavefunction which explains the behaviour of the supersolid state formed by hard-core bosons on the triangular lattice. The wavefunction is a linear superposition of {\em only and all} configurations minimising the repulsion between the bosons (which it thus implements as a hard constraint). Its properties can be evaluated exactly--in particular, the variational minimisation of the energy yields (i) the surprising and initially controversial spontaneous density deviation from half-filling (ii) a quantitatively accurate estimate of the corresponding density wave (solid) order parameter.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Spin nematics and magnetization plateau transition in anisotropic Kagome magnets

We study S=1 kagome antiferromagnets with isotropic Heisenberg exchange $J$ and strong easy axis single-ion anisotropy $D$. For $D \gg J$, the low-energy physics can be described by an effective $S=1/2$ $XXZ$ model with antiferromagnetic $J_z \sim J$ and ferromagnetic $J_\perp \sim J^2/D$. Exploiting this connection, we argue that non-trivial ordering into a "spin-nematic" occurs whenever $D$ dominates over $J$, and discuss its experimental signatures. We also study a magnetic field induced transition to a magnetization plateau state at magnetization 1/3 which breaks lattice translation symmetry due to ordering of the $S^z$ and occupies a lobe in the $B/J_z$-$J_z/J_\perp$ phase diagram.

cond-mat.str-el↗