No Arabic abstract
Phase transitions and critical phenomena, which are dominated by fluctuations and correlations, are one of the fields replete with physical paradigms and unexpected discoveries. Especially for two-dimensional magnetism, the limitation of the Ginzburg criterion leads to enhanced fluctuations breaking down the mean-field theory near a critical point. Here, by means of magnetic resonance, we investigate the behavior of critical fluctuations in the two-dimensional ferromagnetic insulators $rm CrXTe_3 (X=Si, Ge)$. After deriving the classical and quantum models of magnetic resonance, we deem the dramatic anisotropic shift of the measured $g$ factor to originate from fluctuations with anisotropic interactions. The deduction of the $g$ factor behind the fluctuations is consistent with the spin-only state (${gapprox}$ 2.050(10) for $rm CrSiTe_3$ and 2.039(10) for $rm CrGeTe_3$). Furthermore, the abnormal enhancement of $g$ shift, supplemented by specific heat and magnetometry measurements, suggests that $rm CrSiTe_3$ exhibits a more typical two-dimensional nature than $rm CrGeTe_3$ and may be closer to the quantum critical point.
We consider transport properties of a two dimensional topological insulator in a double quantum point contact geometry in presence of a time-dependent external field. In the proposed setup an external gate is placed above a single constriction and it couples only with electrons belonging to the top edge. This asymmetric configuration and the presence of an ac signal allow for a quantum pumping mechanism, which, in turn, can generate finite heat and charge currents in an unbiased device configuration. A microscopic model for the coupling with the external time-dependent gate potential is developed and the induced finite heat and charge currents are investigated. We demonstrate that in the non-interacting case, heat flow is associated with a single spin component, due to the helical nature of the edge states, and therefore a finite and polarized heat current is obtained in this configuration. The presence of e-e interchannel interactions strongly affects the current signal, lowering the degree of polarization of the system. Finally, we also show that separate heat and charge flows can be achieved, varying the amplitude of the external gate.
In the iron pnictide superconductors, theoretical calculations have consistently shown enhancements of the static magnetic susceptibility at both the stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) and in-plane ferromagnetic (FM) wavevectors. However, the possible existence of FM fluctuations has not yet been examined from a microscopic point of view. Here, using $^{75}$As NMR data, we provide clear evidence for the existence of FM spin correlations in both the hole- and electron-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ families of iron-pnictide superconductors. These FM fluctuations appear to compete with superconductivity and are thus a crucial ingredient to understanding the variability of $T_{rm c}$ and the shape of the superconducting dome in these and other iron-pnictide families.
We present numerical calculations of the electron effective mass in an interacting, ferromagnetic, two-dimensional electron system. We consider quantum interaction effects associated with the charge-density fluctuation induced many-body vertex corrections. Our theory, which is free of adjustable parameters, reveals that the effective mass is suppressed (relative to its band value) in the strong coupling limit, in good agreement with the results of recent experimental measurements.
Robust fractional charge localized at disclination defects has been recently found as a topological response in $C_{6}$ symmetric 2D topological crystalline insulators (TCIs). In this article, we thoroughly investigate the fractional charge on disclinations in $C_n$ symmetric TCIs, with or without time reversal symmetry, and including spinless and spin-$frac{1}{2}$ cases. We compute the fractional disclination charges from the Wannier representations in real space and use band representation theory to construct topological indices of the fractional disclination charge for all $2D$ TCIs that admit a (generalized) Wannier representation. We find the disclination charge is fractionalized in units of $frac{e}{n}$ for $C_n$ symmetric TCIs; and for spin-$frac{1}{2}$ TCIs, with additional time reversal symmetry, the disclination charge is fractionalized in units of $frac{2e}{n}$. We furthermore prove that with electron-electron interactions that preserve the $C_n$ symmetry and many-body bulk gap, though we can deform a TCI into another which is topologically distinct in the free fermion case, the fractional disclination charge determined by our topological indices will not change in this process. Moreover, we use an algebraic technique to generalize the indices for TCIs with non-zero Chern numbers, where a Wannier representation is not applicable. With the inclusion of the Chern number, our generalized fractional disclination indices apply for all $C_n$ symmetric TCIs. Finally, we briefly discuss the connection between the Chern number dependence of our generalized indices and the Wen-Zee term.
Recent nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements revealed the coexistence of stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) spin correlations in both the hole- and electron-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ families of iron-pnictide superconductors by a Korringa ratio analysis. Motivated by the NMR work, we investigate the possible existence of FM fluctuations in another iron pnictide superconducting family, Ca(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$. We re-analyzed our previously reported data in terms of the Korringa ratio and found clear evidence for the coexistence of stripe-type AFM and FM spin correlations in the electron-doped CaFe$_2$As$_2$ system. These NMR data indicate that FM fluctuations exist in general in iron-pnictide superconducting families and thus must be included to capture the phenomenology of the iron pnictides.