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arXiv:2602.09545

Interaction-driven spin polaron in itinerant flat-band ferromagnetism

Wei Zhou, Zhao-Yang Dong, Jian-Xin Li

Published Feb 10, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Interaction effects are dramatically enhanced in flat-band systems due to quenched kinetics, facilitating the binding of single excitations into composite quasiparticles. In this work, we present a comprehensive study of spin polarons over the entire momentum and energy space within the Mielke-Tasaki model using projected exact diagonalization. We identify distinct low-energy spin polarons at momenta q=0 and q=π, and also find multiple high-energy branches of spin polaron. It is demonstrated that the interaction-induced Hartree dispersion plays a decisive role in determining the momentum sector of low-energy spin polarons. Furthermore, by introducing a finite bandwidth, we unravel the underlying binding mechanisms: the formation of low-energy spin polarons is governed by the conventional virtual exchange mechanism, whereas the high-energy spin polarons arise from a joint effect of the effective attraction and virtual exchange. Our results suggest promising avenues for realizing spin polaron crystals and exploring novel superconducting pairing mechanisms in moiré materials like twisted WSe2 and MoTe2.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2602.09545

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Interaction effects are dramatically enhanced in flat-band systems due to quenched kinetics, facilitating the binding of single excitations into composite quasiparticles. In this work, we present a comprehensive study of spin polarons over the entire momentum and energy space within the Mielke-Tasaki model using projected exact diagonalization. We identify distinct low-energy spin polarons at momenta q=0 and q=π, and also find multiple high-energy branches of spin polaron. It is demonstrated that the interaction-induced Hartree dispersion plays a decisive role in determining the momentum sector of low-energy spin polarons. Furthermore, by introducing a finite bandwidth, we unravel the underlying binding mechanisms: the formation of low-energy spin polarons is governed by the conventional virtual exchange mechanism, whereas the high-energy spin polarons arise from a joint effect of the effective attraction and virtual exchange. Our results suggest promising avenues for realizing spin polaron crystals and exploring novel superconducting pairing mechanisms in moiré materials like twisted WSe2 and MoTe2.
We consider the standard repulsive Hubbard model with a flat lowest-energy band for two one-dimensional lattices (diamond chain and ladder) as well as for a two-dimensional lattice (bilayer) at half filling of the flat band. The considered models do not fall in the class of Mielke-Tasaki flat-band ferromagnets, since they do not obey the connectivity conditions. However, the ground-state ferromagnetism can emerge, if the flat band becomes dispersive. To study this kinetic-energy-driven ferromagnetism we use perturbation theory and exact diagonalization of finite lattices. We find as a typical scenario that small and moderate dispersion may lead to a ferromagnetic ground state for sufficiently large on-site Hubbard repulsion U>UcU>{U}_{c}U>Uc​, where Uc{U}_{c}Uc​ increases monotonically with the acquired bandwidth. However, we also observe for some specific parameter cases, that (i) ferromagnetism appears at already very small Uc{U}_{c}Uc​, (ii) ferromagnetism does not show up at all, (iii) the critical on-site repulsion Uc{U}_{c}Uc​ is a nonmonotonic function of the bandwidth, or that (iv) a critical bandwidth is needed to open the window for ground-state ferromagnetism.
On a large class of lattices (such as the sawtooth chain, the kagome and the pyrochlore lattices), the quantum Heisenberg and the repulsive Hubbard models may host a completely dispersionless (flat) energy band in the single-particle spectrum. The flat-band states can be viewed as completely localized within a finite volume (trap) of the lattice and allow for construction of many-particle states, roughly speaking, by occupying the traps with particles. If the flat-band happens to be the lowest-energy one, the manifold of such many-body states will often determine the ground-state and low-temperature physics of the models at hand even in the presence of strong interactions. The localized nature of these many-body states makes possible the mapping of this subset of eigenstates onto a corresponding classical hard-core system. As a result, the ground-state and low-temperature properties of the strongly correlated flat-band systems can be analyzed in detail using concepts and tools of classical statistical mechanics (e.g., classical lattice-gas approach or percolation approach), in contrast to more challenging quantum many-body techniques usually necessary to examine strongly correlated quantum systems. In this review, we recapitulate the basic features of the flat-band spin systems and briefly summarize earlier studies in the field. The main emphasis is made on recent developments which include results for both spin and electron flat-band models. In particular, for flat-band spin systems, we highlight field-driven phase transitions for frustrated quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnets at low temperatures, chiral flat-band states, as well as the effect of a slight dispersion of a previously strictly flat-band due to nonideal lattice geometry. For electronic systems, we discuss the universal low-temperature behavior of several flat-band Hubbard models, the emergence of ground-state ferromagnetism in the square-lattice Tasaki–Hubbard model and the related Pauli-correlated percolation problem, as well as the dispersion-driven ground-state ferromagnetism in flat-band Hubbard systems. Closely related studies and possible experimental realizations of the flat-band physics are also described briefly.
The Fermi polaron, formed by an impurity interacting with a surrounding Fermi sea, exemplifies the canonical quasiparticle concept as a cornerstone in our description of quantum many-body systems across a wide range of energy scales. Experiments on atomic quantum gases have provided profound insights into the universal nature of the Fermi polaron. While most previous studies have focused on the case of zero impurity momentum, finite-momentum properties have remained largely uncharted. Here, we investigate the moving Fermi polaron by combining a novel Raman acceleration scheme with high-precision radio-frequency spectroscopy, exploring the quasiparticle dispersion relation over a wide range of momenta. We compare our measurements of energy shifts and spectral linewidths with a microscopic theory and reach quantitative agreement for all momenta. For low momenta, we find the energy of the moving polaron to be fully consistent with the Fermi liquid picture of a dressed particle with a constant effective mass. At high momenta, the polaron approaches the behavior of a weakly interacting bare particle, featuring small energy shifts and weak broadening. For intermediate momenta, broadening is generally larger and, most strikingly, the behavior differs for attractive and repulsive polarons. While the repulsive polaron exhibits a smooth connection between both regimes along with a monotonic change of the energy shift, the attractive case shows a peculiar non-monotonic behavior. With increasing momentum, the attractive polaron enters a regime where its energy deviates from the constant effective mass expression and broadening suddenly increases. By comparing this observation with theory, we show that this abrupt behavior coincides with the attractive polaron entering a molecule-hole continuum, where it is no longer the ground state. We interpret this as a motion-induced polaron-molecule transition.
We explore the quasiparticle properties of lattice polarons on the basis of a quite general electron-phonon Hamiltonian with a long-range displacement-type interaction. To treat the dynamical quantum phonons without significant loss of accuracy we adapt an exact Lanczos diagonalization method and compute various static and dynamical quantities, such as the electron-lattice correlation function, the polaron band dispersion, the effective polaron mass, the kinetic energy, the single-particle spectral function, and the optical conductivity, on finite one-dimensional lattices for a wide range of model parameters. We compare the results with those obtained for the standard Holstein model with short-range electron-phonon interaction only.
We study an effective one-dimensional (1-D) orbital $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model derived for strongly correlated eg{e}_{g}eg​ electrons in doped manganites. The ferromagnetic spin order at half filling is supported by orbital superexchange $\ensuremath{\propto}J$ which stabilizes orbital order with alternating ${x}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{y}^{2}$ and $3{z}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{r}^{2}$ orbitals. In a doped system it competes with the kinetic energy $\ensuremath{\propto}t$. When a single hole is doped to a half-filled chain, its motion is hindered and a localized orbital polaron is formed. An increasing doping generates either separated polarons or phase separation into hole-rich and hole-poor regions, and eventually polarizes the orbitals and gives a metallic phase with occupied $3{z}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{r}^{2}$ orbitals. This crossover, investigated by exact diagonalization at zero temperature, is demonstrated both by the behavior of correlation functions and by spectral properties, showing that the orbital chain with Ising superexchange is more classical and thus radically different from the 1-D spin $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model. At finite temperature we derive and investigate an effective 1-D orbital model using a combination of exact diagonalization with classical Monte Carlo for spin correlations. A competition between the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic spin order was established at half filling, and localized polarons were found for antiferromagnetic interactions at low hole doping. Finally, we clarify that the Jahn-Teller alternating potential stabilizes the orbital order with staggered orbitals, inducing the ferromagnetic spin order, and enhancing the localized features in the excitation spectra. Implications of these findings for colossal magnetoresistance manganites are discussed.