Magnetization plateaus in the antiferromagnetic Ising chain with single-ion anisotropy and quenched disorder.

We have studied the presence of plateaus on the low-temperature magnetization of an antiferromagnetic spin-1 chain, as an external uniform magnetic field is varied. A crystal-field interaction is present in the model and the exchange constants follow a random quenched (Bernoulli or Gaussian) distribution. Using a transfer-matrix technique we calculate the largest Lyapunov exponent and, from it, the magnetization at low temperatures as a function of the magnetic field, for different values of the crystal field and the width of the distributions. For the Bernoulli distribution, the number of plateaus increases, with respect to the uniform case [Litaiff et al., Solid State Commun. 147, 494 (2008)] and their presence can be linked to different ground states, when the magnetic field is varied. For the Gaussian distributions, the uniform scenario is maintained, for small widths, but the plateaus structure disappears as the width increases.

Magnetic properties and critical behavior of disordered Fe(1-x)Ru(x) alloys: a Monte Carlo approach.

We study the critical behavior of a quenched random-exchange Ising model with competing interactions on a bcc lattice. This model was introduced in the study of the magnetic behavior of Fe(1-x)Ru(x) alloys for ruthenium concentrations x=0%, x=4%, x=6%, and x=8%. Our study is carried out within a Monte Carlo approach, with the aid of a re-weighting multiple histogram technique. By means of a finite-size scaling analysis of several thermodynamic quantities, taking into account up to the leading irrelevant scaling field term, we find estimates of the critical exponents α, ß, γ, and ν, and of the critical temperatures of the model. Our results for x=0% are in excellent agreement with those for the three-dimensional pure Ising model in the literature. We also show that our critical exponent estimates for the disordered cases are consistent with those reported for the transition line between paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of both randomly dilute and ±J Ising models. We compare the behavior of the magnetization as a function of temperature with that obtained by Paduani and Branco (2008), qualitatively confirming the mean-field result. However, the comparison of the critical temperatures obtained in this work with experimental measurements suggest that the model (initially obtained in a mean-field approach) needs to be modified.

Mean-field calculation of critical parameters and log-periodic characterization of an aperiodic-modulated model.

We employ a mean-field approximation to study the Ising model with aperiodic modulation of its interactions in one spatial direction. Two different values for the exchange constant, J(A) and J(B), are present, according to the Fibonacci sequence. We calculate the pseudocritical temperatures for finite systems and extrapolate them to the thermodynamic limit. We explicitly obtain the exponents ß, δ, and γ and, from the usual scaling relations for anisotropic models at the upper critical dimension (assumed to be 4 for the model we treat), we calculate α, ν, ν(∥), η, and η(∥). Within the framework of a renormalization-group approach, the Fibonacci sequence is a marginal one and we obtain exponents that depend on the ratio r≡J(B)/J(A), as expected; however, the scaling relation γ=ß(δ-1) is obeyed for all values of r we studied. We characterize some thermodynamic functions as log-periodic functions of their arguments, as expected for aperiodic-modulated models, and obtain precise values for the exponents from this characterization.

Influence of aperiodic modulations on first-order transitions: numerical study of the two-dimensional Potts model.

We study the Potts model on a rectangular lattice with aperiodic modulations in its interactions along one direction. Numerical results are obtained using the Wolff algorithm and for many lattice sizes, allowing for a finite-size scaling analyses to be carried out. Three different self-dual aperiodic sequences are employed, which leads to more precise results, since the exact critical temperature is known. We analyze two models, with 6 and 15 number of states: both present first-order transitions on their uniform versions. We show that the Harris-Luck criterion, originally introduced in the study of continuous transitions, is obeyed also for first-order ones. Also, we show that the new universality class that emerges for relevant aperiodic modulations depends on the number of states of the Potts model, as obtained elsewhere for random disorder, and on the aperiodic sequence. We determine the occurrence of log-periodic behavior, as expected for models with aperiodic modulated interactions.

Anisotropic Heisenberg model on hierarchical lattices with aperiodic interactions: a renormalization-group approach.

Using a real-space renormalization-group approximation, we study the anisotropic quantum Heisenberg model on hierarchical lattices, with interactions following aperiodic sequences. Three different sequences are considered, with relevant and irrelevant fluctuations, according to the Luck-Harris criterion. The phase diagram is discussed as a function of the anisotropy parameter Delta (such that Delta=0 and 1 correspond to the isotropic Heisenberg and Ising models, respectively). We find three different types of phase diagrams, with general characteristics: the isotropic Heisenberg plane is always an invariant one (as expected by symmetry arguments) and the critical behavior of the anisotropic Heisenberg model is governed by fixed points on the Ising-model plane. Our results for the isotropic Heisenberg model show that the relevance or irrelevance of aperiodic models, when compared to their uniform counterpart, is as predicted by the Harris-Luck criterion. A low-temperature renormalization-group procedure was applied to the classical isotropic Heisenberg model in two-dimensional hierarchical lattices: the relevance criterion is obtained, again in accordance with the Harris-Luck criterion.

Nonuniversal behavior for aperiodic interactions within a mean-field approximation.

We study the spin-1/2 Ising model on a Bethe lattice in the mean-field limit, with the interaction constants following one of two deterministic aperiodic sequences, the Fibonacci or period-doubling one. New algorithms of sequence generation were implemented, which were fundamental in obtaining long sequences and, therefore, precise results. We calculate the exact critical temperature for both sequences, as well as the critical exponents beta, gamma, and delta . For the Fibonacci sequence, the exponents are classical, while for the period-doubling one they depend on the ratio between the two exchange constants. The usual relations between critical exponents are satisfied, within error bars, for the period-doubling sequence. Therefore, we show that mean-field-like procedures may lead to nonclassical critical exponents.

Variational-method study of the spin-1 Ising model with biaxial crystal-field anisotropy.

The phase diagram of the spin-1 Ising model in the presence of a biaxial crystal-field anisotropy is studied within the framework of a variational approach, based on the Bogolyubov inequality for the free energy. We have investigated the effects of a transverse crystal field Dy on the phase diagram in the T-Dx plane. Results obtained by using effective-field theory (EFT) on the honeycomb (z=3), square (z=4), and simple cubic (z=6) lattices (z is the coordination number) show only continuous phase transitions, while the variational approach presents first-order and continuous phase transitions for Dy=0. We have also used the EFT for larger values of z and we observe the presence of tricritical points in the phase diagrams, for z>or=7, in accordance with the variational approach results.

Effects of anisotropy on a quantum Heisenberg spin glass on a three-dimensional hierarchical lattice.

We study the anisotropic Heisenberg spin-glass model on a three-dimensional hierarchical lattice (designed to approximate the cubic lattice), within a real-space renormalization-group approach. Two different initial probability distributions for the exchange interaction (Jij), Gaussian and uniform, are used, with zero mean and width J. The (kT/J) x Delta0 phase diagram is obtained, where T is the temperature, Delta0 is the first moment of the probability distribution for the uniaxial anisotropy, and k is the Boltzmann constant. For the Ising model (Delta0 = 1), there is a spin-glass phase at low temperatures (high J) and a paramagnetic phase at high temperatures (low J). For the isotropic Heisenberg model (Delta0 = 0), our results indicate no spin-glass phase at finite temperatures. The transition temperature between the spin-glass and paramagnetic phase decreases with Delta0, as expected, but goes to zero at a finite value of the anisotropy parameter, namely Delta0 = Deltac approximately 0.59. Our results indicate that the whole transition line, between the paramagnetic and the spin-glass phases, for Deltac < Delta0 < 1, belongs to the same universality class as the transition for the Ising spin glass.