Abstract
A variety of analytical techniques suggest that quantum fluctuations lead to a fundamental instability of the Fermi liquid that drives ferromagnetic transitions first order at low temperatures. We present both analytical and numerical evidence that, driven by the same quantum fluctuations, this first order transition is preempted by the formation of an inhomogeneous magnetic phase. This occurs in a manner that is closely analogous to the formation of the inhomogeneous superconducting Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state. We derive these results from a field-theoretical approach supplemented with numerical quantum Monte Carlo simulations.
- Received 7 June 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.207201
©2009 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
There and back again: from magnets to superconductors
Published 9 November 2009
A theory of novel phase formation near quantum critical points suggests that large fluctuations lead to magnetic analogs of inhomogeneous superconductivity.
See more in Physics