In real magnets the tendency toward ferromagnetism---promoted by exchange coupling---is usually frustrated by dipolar interaction. As a result, the uniformly ordered phase is replaced by modulated (multidomain) phases, characterized by different order parameters rather than the global magnetization. The transitions occurring within those modulated phases and toward the disordered phase are generally not of second-order type. Nevertheless, strong experimental evidence indicates that a standard critical behavior is recovered when comparatively small fields are applied that stabilize the uniform phase. The resulting power laws are observed with respect to a putative critical point that falls in the portion of the phase diagram occupied by modulated phases, in line with an avoided-criticality scenario. Here we propose a generalization of the scaling hypothesis for ferromagnets, which explains this observation assuming that the dipolar interaction acts as a relevant field, in the sense of renormalization group. We corroborate this proposal with analytic and numerical calculations on the 2D Ising model frustrated by dipolar interaction (isotropic part). Our analysis is directly applicable to thin magnetic films with out-of-plane anisotropy.
The zero-field critical behavior of ferromagnets above
Tc, with both isotropic exchange coupling and dipolar interactions, is studied by renormalization-group techniques in $d=4\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ dimensions with
n(=d) component spins. The critical exponents are calculated to order ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}$, and are found to be numerically very close to their nondipolar analogs. In particular the correlation length exponent is given by $2\ensuremath{\nu}=1+(\frac{9}{34})\ensuremath{\epsilon}+(\frac{7013}{58956}){\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}+O({\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{3})$. The value of the specific-heat exponent ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{s} (=2\ensuremath{-}d\ensuremath{\nu})$ seems inconsistent with experimental data (at
d=3, $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=1$). The critical scattering function is shown to have the form ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\beta}}(\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{q}})=C{t}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}}\stackrel{^}{D}({\ensuremath{\xi}}^{2}{q}^{2})({\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\beta}}\ensuremath{-}\frac{{q}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}{q}^{\ensuremath{\beta}}}{{q}^{2}})$ to all orders in $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$. The exponents related to the leading correction to scaling, to crossovers to anisotropic exchange behavior, and to cubic dipolar behavior, are also calculated, and are found to differ significantly from their nondipolar counterparts.
The exact renormalization-group approach of Wilson is used to study the critical behavior for
T>Tc,
H=0, and small $\ensuremath{\epsilon}>0$, of an isotropic ferromagnetic system in $d=4\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ dimensions, with exchange and dipolar interactions between
d-component spins. Normal isotropic Heisenberg behavior with $\frac{1}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{1}{2\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\approx}1\ensuremath{-}\frac{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}{4}$ (to first order in $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$) is retained for $t=(\frac{T}{{T}_{c}})\ensuremath{-}1\ensuremath{\ll}\frac{G}{J{a}^{d}}$, where $G=\frac{{(g{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B})}^{2}}{2}$ measures the strength of the dipole-dipole interactions,
J is the short-range exchange parameter, and
a is the lattice spacing. When ${t}^{\ensuremath{\varphi}}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{G}{J{a}^{d}}$, where $\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\approx}1+\frac{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}{4}$, crossover occurs to a characteristic dipolar behavior described by a new fixed point of the recursion relations. For $t\ensuremath{\ll}\frac{G}{J{a}^{d}}$ one thus finds $\frac{1}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{1}{2\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\approx}1\ensuremath{-}\frac{9\ensuremath{\epsilon}}{34}$ {and, for spins of
nd components, $\frac{1}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{1}{2\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\approx}1\ensuremath{-}[\frac{(6n+3)}{2(6n+11)}]\ensuremath{\epsilon}$, which agrees with spherical-model results when $n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$}. In the dipolar regime the spin-correlation function $〈{s}_{q}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}{s}_{\ensuremath{-}q}^{\ensuremath{\beta}}〉$ has a factor [${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\beta}}\ensuremath{-}(\frac{{q}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}{q}^{\ensuremath{\beta}}}{{q}^{2}})$], which suppresses longitudinal spin fluctuations; the susceptibilities ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ display the expected demagnetization effects. It is found that dipolar anistropies derving from the lattice structure produce weak instabilities which should be hard to detect although their effects are not fully elucidated. Extensions of the results to nonzero magnetic fields, and to anistropic exchange interactions are indicated; the experimental situation is mentioned briefly.
In this work, the phase diagram of the ferromagnetic Ising model with dipole interactions is revisited with the aim of determining the nature of the phase transition between stripe-ordered phases with width
n (hn) and tetragonal liquid (TL) phases. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations are performed in order to study the short-time dynamic behavior of the observables for selected values of the ratio between the ferromagnetic exchange and dipolar constants $\ensuremath{\delta}$. The obtained results indicate that the
h1-TL phase transition line is continuous up to $\ensuremath{\delta}=1.2585$, while for the
h2-TL line a weak first-order character is found in the interval $1.2585\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\le}1.36$ and becomes continuous for $1.37\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\le}1.9$. This result suggests the existence of a tricritical point close to $\ensuremath{\delta}=1.37$. When it is appropriate, the complete set of critical exponents is obtained, and in all the studied cases they depend on $\ensuremath{\delta}$ but do not belong to the Ising universality class. Furthermore, short-time dynamic studies reveal that at the point where the mentioned lines meet the ${h}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{h}_{2}$ line, i.e., at $\ensuremath{\delta}=1.2585$, the critical phase corresponding to the ${h}_{1}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{TL}$ transition coexists with the
h2 phase.
The purpose of this article is to give an overview of results concerning ordering and critical properties of two-dimensional ferromagnets including the dipolar interaction.We investigate a two-dimensional xy-model extended by the dipolar interaction.Describing our system by a nonlinear σ-model and using renormalization group methods we predict a phase transition to an ordered state.This transition is due to the long-range dipolar interaction.The ferromagnetic phase is governed by a low temperature fixed-point with infinite dipolar coupling.In the critical regime we find exponential behavior for the correlation length and the order parameter in contrast to the usual power laws.The nature of the transition shows a striking similarity to the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.We show that there is a whole class of longrange xy-models leading to such non-standard behavior.Parameterizing the divergencies in terms of the correlation length we are able to calculate the critical exponents.These exponents are correct in any loop order.
We study the phase diagram of a frustrated spin-
21 ferromagnetic chain with anisotropic exchange interactions in an external magnetic field using the density matrix renormalization group method. We show that an easy-axis anisotropy enhances the tendency toward multimagnon bound states while an easy-plane anisotropy favors chirally ordered phases. In particular, a moderate easy-plane anisotropy gives rise to a quantum phase transition at intermediate magnetization. We argue that this transition is related to the finite-field phase transition experimentally observed in the spin-
21 compound
LiCuVO4.
This article is devoted to the study of the critical properties of classical XY and Heisenberg frustrated magnets in three dimensions. We first analyze the experimental and numerical situations. We show that the unusual behaviors encountered in these systems, typically nonuniversal scaling, are hardly compatible with the hypothesis of a second order phase transition. Moreover, the fact that the scaling laws are significantly violated and that the anomalous dimension is negative in many cases provides strong indications that the transitions in frustrated magnets are most probably of very weak first order. We then review the various perturbative and early nonperturbative approaches used to investigate these systems and argue that none of them provides a completely satisfactory description of the three-dimensional critical behavior. We then recall the principles of the nonperturbative approach---the effective average action method---that we have used to investigate the physics of frustrated magnets and show how it enables to clarify most of the problems encountered in the previous theoretical descriptions of frustrated magnets. First, we get an explanation of the long-standing mismatch between different perturbative approaches which consists in a nonperturbative mechanism of annihilation of fixed points between two and three dimensions. Secondly, we get a coherent picture of the physics of frustrated magnets in agreement with the numerical and experimental results. The central feature that emerges from our approach is the existence of scaling behaviors without fixed or pseudofixed point and that relies on a slowing down of the renormalization group flow in a whole region in the coupling constants space. This phenomenon allow us to explain the occurrence of generic weak first order behaviors and to understand the absence of universality in the critical behavior of frustrated magnets.