Title: Transverse fields to tune an Ising-nematic quantum phase transition

Abstract

Here, the paradigmatic example of a continuous quantum phase transition is the transverse field Ising ferromagnet. In contrast to classical critical systems, whose properties depend only on symmetry and the dimension of space, the nature of a quantum phase transition also depends on the dynamics. In the transverse field Ising model, the order parameter is not conserved, and increasing the transverse field enhances quantum fluctuations until they become strong enough to restore the symmetry of the ground state. Ising pseudospins can represent the order parameter of any system with a twofold degenerate broken-symmetry phase, including electronic nematic order associated with spontaneous point-group symmetry breaking. Here, we show for the representative example of orbital-nematic ordering of a non-Kramers doublet that an orthogonal strain or a perpendicular magnetic field plays the role of the transverse field, thereby providing a practical route for tuning appropriate materials to a quantum critical point. While the transverse fields are conjugate to seemingly unrelated order parameters, their nontrivial commutation relations with the nematic order parameter, which can be represented by a Berry-phase term in an effective field theory, intrinsically intertwine the different order parameters.

Authors:

Maharaj, Akash V. ^[1]; Rosenberg, Elliott W. ^[2]; Hristov, Alexander T.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Hristov, Alexander T."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-1883-1801"

Berg, Erez ^[3]; Fernandes, Rafael M. ^[4]; Fisher, Ian R. ^[5]; Kivelson, Steven A. ^[1]

---

+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305,, Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025,
2. Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305,
3. Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel 761001,, Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637,
4. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
5. Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025,, Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305,

Publication Date:

Tue Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2017

Research Org.:

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1411287

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1416346

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-76SF00515; SC0012336; DGE-114747; GBMF4414; 1291/12; 2014209

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 114 Journal Issue: 51; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; quantum phase transitions; electronic nematicity; strongly correlated electrons; condensed matter physics