arXiv subjects

Valeri N. Kotov

Publications and source records attributed to Valeri N. Kotov.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Quantum phase transitions beyond the dilute Bose gas limit

We study a Heisenberg S=1/2 ring-exchange antiferromagnet which exhibits a quantum phase transition from a spontaneously dimerized (valence bond solid) phase to a magnetically ordered (Neel) phase. We argue that the quantum transition is of unconventional nature; both singlet and triplet modes of high density condense as the transition is approached from the dimer side, signaling restoration of lattice symmetry. These features are consistent with "deconfined quantum criticality", of which the present model is believed to be the only example so far.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Spiral Spin Order and Transport Anisotropy in Underdoped Cuprates

We discuss the spiral spin density wave model and its application to explain properties of underdoped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$. We argue that the spiral picture is theoretically well justified in the context of the extended $t-J$ model, and then show that it can explain a number of observed features, such as the location and symmetry of the incommensurate peaks in elastic neutron scattering, as well as the in-plane resistivity anisotropy. A consistent description of the low doping region (below 10% or so) emerges from the spiral formulation, in which the holes show no tendency towards any type of charge order and the physics is purely spin driven.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Theory of Anisotropic Hopping Transport due to Spiral Correlations in the Spin-Glass Phase of Underdoped Cuprates

We study the in-plane resistivity anisotropy in the spin-glass phase of the high-$T_{c}$ cuprates, on the basis of holes moving in a spiral spin background. This picture follows from analysis of the extended $t-J$ model with Coulomb impurities. In the variable-range hopping regime the resistivity anisotropy is found to have a maximum value of around 90%, and it decreases with temperature, in excellent agreement with experiments in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$. In our approach the transport anisotropy is due to the non-collinearity of the spiral spin state, rather than an intrinsic tendency of the charges to self-organize.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya-Induced Order in the Spin-Liquid Phase of the S=1/2 Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet

We show that the S=1/2 pyrochlore lattice with both Heisenberg and antisymmetric, Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) interactions, can order antiferromagnetically into a state with chiral symmetry, dictated by the distribution of the DM interactions. The chiral antiferromagnetic state is characterized by a small staggered magnetic moment induced by the DM interaction. An external magnetic field can also lead to characteristic field-induced ordering patterns, strongly dependent on the field direction, and generally separated by a quantum phase transition from the chiral ordered phase. The phase diagram at finite temperature is also discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Theory of incommensurate magnetic correlations across the insulator-superconductor transition in underdoped La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4

The main feature in the elastic neutron scattering of La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 is the existence of incommensurate peaks with positions that jump from 45 to 0 degrees at 5% doping. We show that the spiral state of the t-t'-t''-J model with realistic parameters describes this data perfectly. We explain why in the insulator the peak is at 45 degrees while it switches to 0 degrees precisely at the insulator-metal transition. The calculated positions of the peaks are in agreement with the data in both phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Weak antiferromagnetism and dimer order in quantum systems of coupled tetrahedra

We analyze the phases of an S=1/2 spin model on a lattice of coupled tetrahedra. The presence of both Heisenberg and antisymmetric, Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions can lead to two types of symmetry-broken states: non-magnetic dimer order and, unexpectedly, exotic 4 sub-lattice weak antiferromagnetic order - a state with a generically small ordered moment and non-zero chirality. External magnetic field also induces weak antiferromagnetism co-existing with strong dimer correlations in the ground state. These states are formed as a result of broken Ising symmetries and exhibit a number of unusual properties.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Stability of the spiral phase in the 2D extended t-J model

We analyze the t-t'-t''-J model at low doping by chiral perturbation theory and show that the (1,0) spiral state is stabilized by the presence of t',t'' above critical values around 0.2J, assuming t/J=3.1. We find that the (magnon mediated) hole-hole interactions have an important effect on the region of charge stability in the space of parameters t',t'', generally increasing stability, while the stability in the magnetic sector is guaranteed by the presence of spin quantum fluctuations (order from disorder effect). These conclusions are based on perturbative analysis performed up to two loops, with very good convergence.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Soliton binding and low-lying singlets in frustrated odd-legged S=1/2 spin tubes

Motivated by the intriguing properties of the vanadium spin tube Na2V3O7, we show that an effective spin-chirality model similar to that of standard Heisenberg odd-legged S=1/2 spin tubes can be derived for frustrated inter-ring couplings, but with a spin-chirality coupling constant alpha that can be arbitrarily small. Using density matrix renormalization group and analytical arguments, we show that, while spontaneous dimerization is always present, solitons become bound into low-lying singlets as alpha is reduced. Experimental implications for strongly frustrated tubes are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Superconducting Spiral Phase in the two-dimensional t-J model

We analyse the t-t'-t''-J model, relevant to the superconducting cuprates. By using chiral perturbation theory we have determined the ground state to be a spiral for small doping δ<< 1 near half filling. In this limit the solution does not contain any uncontrolled approximations. We evaluate the spin-wave Green's functions and address the issue of stability of the spiral state, leading to the phase diagram of the model. At t'=t''=0 the spiral state is unstable towards a local enhancement of the spiral pitch, and the nature of the true ground state remains unclear. However, for values of t' and t'' corresponding to real cuprates the (1,0) spiral state is stabilized by quantum fluctuations (``order from disorder'' effect). We show that at δ= 0.119 the spiral is commensurate with the lattice with a period of 8 lattice spacings. It is also demonstrated that spin-wave mediated superconductivity develops in the spiral state and a lower limit for the superconducting gap is derived. Even though one cannot classify the gap symmetry according to the lattice representations (s,p,d,...) since the symmetry of the lattice is spontaneously broken by the spiral, the gap always has lines of nodes along the (1,\pm 1) directions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Critical Dynamics of Singlet Excitations in a Frustrated Spin System

We construct and analyze a two-dimensional frustrated quantum spin model with plaquette order, in which the low-energy dynamics is controlled by spin singlets. At a critical value of frustration the singlet spectrum becomes gapless, indicating a quantum transition to a phase with dimer order. This T=0 transition belongs to the 3D Ising universality class, while at finite temperature a 2D Ising critical line separates the plaquette and dimerized phases. The magnetic susceptibility has an activated form throughout the phase diagram, whereas the specific heat exhibits a rich structure and a power law dependence on temperature at the quantum critical point. We argue that the novel quantum critical behavior associated with singlet criticality discussed in this work can be relevant to a wide class of quantum spin systems, such as antiferromagnets on Kagome and pyrochlore lattices, where the low-energy excitations are known to be spin singlets, as well as to the CAVO lattice and several recently discovered strongly frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnets.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Collective Singlet Excitations and Evolution of Raman Spectral Weights in the 2D Spin Dimer Compound SrCu2(BO3)2

We present a Raman light scattering study of the two-dimensional quantum spin system SrCu2(BO3)2 and show that the magnetic excitation spectrum has a rich structure, including several well-defined bound state modes at low temperature, and a scattering continuum and quasielastic light scattering contributions at high temperature. The key to the understanding of the unique features of SrCu2(BO3)2 is the presence of strong interactions between well-localized triplet excitations in the network of orthogonal spin dimers realized in this compound. Based on our analysis of the Heisenberg model relevant for this material, we argue that the collective excitations involving two and three-particle singlet bound states have large binding energies and are observed as well-defined peaks in the Raman spectrum.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Spin-Peierls transition in NaV2O5 in high magnetic fields

We investigate the magnetic field dependence of the spin-Peierls transition in NaV$_2$O$_5$ in the field range 16T-30T. The transition temperature exhibits a very weak variation with the field, suggesting a novel mechanism for the formation of the spin-Peierls state. We argue that a charge ordering transition accompanied by singlet formation is consistent with our observations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Low-energy singlet and triplet excitations in the spin-liquid phase of the two-dimensional J1-J2 model

We analyze the stability of the spontaneously dimerized spin-liquid phase of the frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet - the J1-J2 model. The lowest triplet excitation, corresponding to breaking of a singlet bond, is found to be stable in the region 0.38 < J2/J1 < 0.62. In addition we find a stable low-energy collective singlet mode, which is closely related to the spontaneous violation of the discrete symmetry. Both modes are gapped in the quantum disordered phase and become gapless at the transition point to the Neel ordered phase (J2/J1=0.38). The spontaneous dimerization vanishes at the transition and we argue that the disappearance of dimer order is related to the vanishing of the singlet gap. We also present exact diagonalization data on a small (4x4) cluster which indeed show a structure of the spectrum, consistent with that of a system with a four-fold degenerate (spontaneously dimerized) ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Spontaneous dimer order, excitation spectrum, and quantum phase transitions in the J1-J2 Heisenberg model

We overview some recent work and present new results on the ground state properties and the spectrum of excitations of the two-dimensional frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Spontaneous dimer order is present in the quantum disordered phase of this model. We study the stability and analyze the structure of the spectrum, including the two-particle singlet excitation branch throughout the disordered phase, as well as in the vicinity of the Neel critical point. The variation of the dimer order parameter is also given, and it is argued that near the critical point it reflects the presence of the low-energy singlet bound state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

On the nature of the transition from the spontaneously dimerized to the Neel phase in the two-dimensional J1-J2 model

We analyze the spectrum of the 2D S=1/2 frustrated Heisenberg model near the transition from the spontaneously dimerized spin-liquid phase into the Neel ordered phase. Two excitation branches: the triplet magnon, and the collective singlet mode, both become gapless at the transition point. However we find that the length scales associated with these modes are well separated at the quantum transition. While in the quantum disordered phase the singlet excitation has finite spectral weight and reflects the existence of spontaneous dimer order, near the transition point the size of the singlet bound state grows exponentially with the correlation length, and hence the quasiparticle residue is exponentially small. Therefore the critical dynamics remains in the O(3) universality class in spite of the four gapless modes.

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