Field-induced quantum soliton lattice in a frustrated two-leg spin-1/2 ladder

Based on high-field (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and accompanying numerical calculations, it is argued that in the frustrated S=1/2 ladder compound BiCu(2)PO(6) a field-induced soliton lattice develops above a critical field of μ(0)H(c1)=20.96(7) T. Solitons result from the fractionalization of the S=1, bosonlike triplet excitations, which in other quantum antiferromagnets are commonly known to experience Bose-Einstein condensation or to crystallize in a superstructure. Unlike in spin-Peierls systems, these field-induced quantum domain walls do not arise from a state with broken translational symmetry and are triggered exclusively by magnetic frustration. Our model predicts yet another second-order phase transition at H(c2)>H(c1), driven by soliton-soliton interactions, most likely corresponding to the one observed in recent magnetocaloric and other bulk measurements.

Stripes induced by orbital ordering in layered manganites

Spin-charge-orbital ordered structures in doped layered manganites are investigated using an orbital-degenerate double-exchange model tightly coupled to Jahn-Teller distortions. In the ferromagnetic phase, unexpected diagonal stripes at x = 1/m ( m = integer) are observed, as in recent experiments. These stripes are induced by the orbital degree of freedom, which forms a staggered pattern in the background. A pi shift in the orbital order across stripes is identified, analogous to the pi shift in spin order across stripes in cuprates. At x = 1/4 and 1/3, another nonmagnetic phase with diagonal static charge stripes is stabilized at intermediate values of the t(2g)-spins exchange coupling.

Resistivity of Mixed-Phase Manganites

The resistivity rho(dc) of manganites is studied using a random resistor-network, based on phase separation between metallic and insulating domains. When percolation occurs, both as chemical composition or temperature vary, results in good agreement with experiments are obtained. Similar conclusions are reached using quantum calculations and microscopic considerations. Above the Curie temperature, it is argued that ferromagnetic clusters should exist in Mn oxides. Small magnetic fields induce large rho(dc) changes and a bad-metal state with (disconnected) insulating domains.

Doped stripes in models for the cuprates emerging from the one-hole properties of the insulator

The extended and standard t-J models are computationally studied on ladders and planes, with emphasis on the small J/t region. At couplings compatible with photoemission results for undoped cuprates, half-doped stripes separating pi-shifted antiferromagnetic (AF) domains are found, as in Tranquada's interpretation of neutron experiments. Our main result is that the elementary stripe "building block" resembles the properties of one hole at small J/t, with robust AF correlations across the hole induced by the local tendency of the charge to separate from the spin. This suggests that the seed of half-doped stripes already exists in the unusual properties of the insulating parent compound.

Giant cluster coexistence in doped manganites and other compounds

Computational studies of models for manganese oxides show the generation of large coexisting metallic and insulating clusters with equal electronic density, in agreement with the recently discovered micrometer-sized inhomogeneities in manganites. The clusters are induced by disorder on exchange and hopping amplitudes near first-order transitions of the nondisordered strongly coupled system. The random-field Ising model illustrates the qualitative aspects of our results. Percolative characteristics are natural in this context. The conclusions are general and apply to a variety of compounds.