No Arabic abstract
We have studied the antiferromagnetic quantum phase transition of a 2D Kondo-Heisenberg square lattice using the non-linear sigma model. A renormalization group analysis of the competing Kondo -- RKKY interaction was carried out to 1-loop order in the $epsilon$ expansion, and a new quantum critical point is found, dominated by Kondo fluctuations. In addition, the spin-wave velocity scales logarithmically near the new QCP, i.e breakdown of hydrodynamic behavior. The results allow us to propose a new phase diagram near the AFM fixed point of this 2D Kondo lattice model.
We derive, by means of an extended Gutzwiller wavefunction and within the Gutzwiller approximation, the phase diagram of the Kondo lattice model. We find that generically, namely in the absence of nesting, the model displays an $f$-electron Mott localization accompanied by a discontinuous change of the conduction electron Fermi surface as well as by magnetism. When the non interacting Fermi surface is close to nesting, the Mott localization disentangles from the onset of magnetism. First the paramagnetic heavy fermion metal turns continuously into an itinerant magnet - the Fermi surface evolves smoothly across the transition - and afterwards Mott localization intervenes with a discontinuous rearrangement of the Fermi surface. We find that the $f$-electron localization remains even if magnetism is prevented, and is still accompanied by a sharp transfer of spectral weigth at the Fermi energy within the Brillouin zone. We further show that the Mott localization can be also induced by an external magnetic field, in which case it occurs concomitantly with a metamagnetic transition.
The magnetic ground state phase diagram of the ferromagnetic Kondo-lattice model is constructed by calculating internal energies of all possible bipartite magnetic configurations of the simple cubic lattice explicitly. This is done in one dimension (1D), 2D and 3D for a local moment of S = 3/2. By assuming saturation in the local moment system we are able to treat all appearing higher local correlation functions within an equation of motion approach exactly. A simple explanation for the obtained phase diagram in terms of bandwidth reduction is given. Regions of phase separation are determined from the internal energy curves by an explicit Maxwell construction.
The interplay between the Kondo effect and magnetic ordering driven by the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction is studied within the two-dimensional Hubbard-Kondo lattice model. In addition to the antiferromagnetic exchange interaction, $J_perp$, between the localized and the conduction electrons, this model also contains the local repulsion, $U$, between the conduction electrons. We use variational cluster approximation to investigate the competition between the antiferromagnetic phase, the Kondo singlet phase, and a ferrimagnetic phase on square lattice. At half-filling, the Neel antiferromagnetic phase dominates from small to moderate $J_perp$ and $UJ_perp$, and the Kondo singlet elsewhere. Sufficiently away from half-filling, the antiferromagnetic phase first gives way to a ferrimagnetic phase (in which the localized spins order ferromagnetically, and the conduction electrons do likewise, but the two mutually align antiferromagnetically), and then to the Kondo singlet phase.
The problem of a spin-1/2 magnetic impurity near an antiferromagnetic transition of the host lattice is solved. The problem is shown to transform to a multichannel problem. A variety of fixed points is discovered asymptotically near the AFM-critical point. Among these is a new variety of stable fixed point of a multichannel Kondo problem which does not require channel isotropy. At this point Kondo screening disappears but coupling to spin-fluctuations remains. Besides its intrinsic interest, the problem is an essential ingredient in the problem of quantum critical points in heavy-fermions.
The quantum phase transition between paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of the Kondo lattice model with Ising anisotropy in the intersite exchange is studied within the framework of extended dynamical mean-field theory. Nonperturbative numerical solutions at zero temperature point to a continuous transition for both two- and three-dimensional magnetism. In the former case, the transition is associated with critical local physics, characterized by a vanishing Kondo scale and by an anomalous exponent in the dynamics close in value to that measured in heavy-fermion CeCu_{5.9}Au_{0.1}.