Quantum ferromagnetic transition in disordered itinerant electron systems

The phase-ordering dynamics that result from domain coarsening are considered for itinerant quantum ferromagnets. The fluctuation effects that invalidate the Hertz theory of the quantum phase transition also affect the phase ordering. For a quench into the ordered phase a transient regime appears, where the domain growth follows a different power law than in the classical case, and for asymptotically long times the prefactor of the t^{1/2} growth law has an anomalous magnetiz...

The spin wave dispersion relation in both clean and disordered itinerant quantum ferromagnets is calculated. It is found that effects akin to weak-localization physics cause the frequency of the spin-waves to be a nonanalytic function of the magnetization m. For low frequencies \Omega, small wavevectors k, and small m, the dispersion relation is found to be of the form \Omega ~ m^{1-\alpha} k^2, with \alpha = (4-d)/2 (2<d<4) for disordered systems, and \alpha = (3-d) (1<d<3) ...

We study the stability of the Quantum Critical Point (QCP) for itinerant ferromagnets commonly described by the Hertz-Millis-Moriya (HMM) theory. We argue that in $D \leq 3$, long-range spatial correlations associated with the Landau damping of the order parameter field generate a universal {\it negative}, non-analytic $|q|^{(D+1)/2}$ contribution to the static magnetic susceptibility $\chi_s (q, 0)$, which makes HMM theory unstable. We argue that the actual transition is eit...

We introduce an effective field theory for the vicinity of a zero temperature quantum transition between a metallic spin glass (``spin density glass'') and a metallic quantum paramagnet. Following a mean field analysis, we perform a perturbative renormalization-group study and find that the critical properties are dominated by static disorder-induced fluctuations, and that dynamic quantum-mechanical effects are dangerously irrelevant. A Gaussian fixed point is stable for a fi...

The effects of quenched disorder on the critical properties of itinerant quantum magnets are considered. Particular attention is paid to locally ordered rare regions that are formed in the presence of quenched disorder even when the bulk system is still in the nonmagnetic phase. It is shown that these local moments or instantons destroy the previously found critical fixed point in the case of antiferromagnets. In the case of itinerant ferromagnets, the critical behavior is un...

We introduce a new method to analysis the many-body problem with disorder. The method is an extension of the real space renormalization group based on the operator product expansion. We consider the problem in the presence of interaction, large elastic mean free path, and finite temperatures. As a result scaling is stopped either by temperature or the length scale set by the diverging many-body length scale (superconductivity). Due to disorder a superconducting instability mi...

We give a general introduction to quantum phase transitions in strongly-correlated electron systems. These transitions which occur at zero temperature when a non-thermal parameter $g$ like pressure, chemical composition or magnetic field is tuned to a critical value are characterized by a dynamic exponent $z$ related to the energy and length scales $\Delta$ and $\xi$. Simple arguments based on an expansion to first order in the effective interaction allow to define an upper-c...

It is shown that the peculiar features observed in the low-temperature phase diagrams of ZrZn_2, UGe_2, and MnSi can be understood in terms of a simple mean-field theory. The nature of the ferromagnetic transition changes from second order to first order at a tricritical point, and in a small external magnetic field surfaces of first-order transitions emerge which terminate in quantum critical points. This field dependence of the phase diagram follows directly from the existe...

The quantum phase transition in clean itinerant ferromagnets is analyzed. It is shown that soft particle-hole modes invalidate Hertz's mean-field theory for $d \leq 3$. A renormalized mean-field theory predicts a fluctuation-induced first order transition for $1 < d \leq 3$, whose stability is analyzed by renormalization group techniques. Depending on microscopic parameter values, the first order transition can be stable, or be pre-empted by a fluctuation-induced second order...

We revisit an antiferromagnetic quantum phase transition with $\bm{Q} = 2 \bm{k}_{F}$, where $\bm{Q}$ is an ordering wave vector and $\bm{k}_{F}$ is a Fermi momentum. Reformulating the Hertz-Moriya-Millis theory within the strong coupling approach to diagonalize the spin-fermion coupling term and performing the scaling analysis for an effective field theory with quantum corrections in the Eliashberg approximation, we propose a novel interacting fixed point for this antiferrom...