Abstract
We study a version of the one-dimensional spin-orbital model with spins relevant to cubic vanadates. At small Hund’s coupling we discover dimerization in a pure electronic system solely due to a dynamical spin-orbital coupling. Above a critical value a uniform ferromagnetic state is stabilized at zero temperature. More surprisingly, we observe a temperature driven dimerization of the ferrochain, which occurs due to a large entropy released by dimer states. This dynamical dimerization seems to be the mechanism driving the peculiar intermediate phase of
- Received 16 December 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.67.100408
©2003 American Physical Society