We investigate the dynamical and steady-state spin response of the nonequilibrium Anderson model to magnetic fields, bias voltage, and temperature using a numerically exact method combining a bold-line quantum Monte Carlo technique with a memory function formalism. We obtain converged results in a range of previously inaccessible regimes, in particular calculating the spin dynamics for a range of temperatures down to the crossover to the Kondo domain. We provide predictions for nonequilibrium phenomena, including nonmonotonic temperature dependence of observables at high bias voltage and oscillatory quench dynamics at high magnetic fields.
Motivated by recent experiments on molecular quantum dots we investigate the relaxation of pure spin states when coupled to metallic leads. Under suitable conditions these systems are well described by a ferromagnetic Kondo model. Using two recently developed theoretical approaches, the time-dependent numerical renormalization group and an extended flow equation method, we calculate the real-time evolution of a Kondo spin into its partially screened steady state. We obtain exact analytical results which agree well with numerical implementations of both methods. Analytical expressions for the steady state magnetization and the dependence of the long-time relaxation on microscopic parameters are established. We find the long-time relaxation process to be much faster in the regime of anisotropic Kondo couplings. The steady state magnetization is found to deviate significantly from its thermal equilibrium value.
A detailed derivation of the recently proposed time-dependent numerical renormalization-group (TD-NRG) approach to nonequilibrium dynamics in quantum-impurity systems is presented. We demonstrate that the method is suitable for fermionic as well as bosonic baths. Comparisons with exact analytical results for the charge relaxation in the resonant-level model and for dephasing in the spin-boson model establish the accuracy of the method. The real-time dynamics of a single spin coupled to each type of bath is investigated. We use the TD-NRG to calculate the spin relaxation and spin precession of a single Kondo impurity. The short- and long-time dynamics are studied as a function of temperature in the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic regimes. The short-time dynamics agrees very well with analytical results obtained at second order in the exchange coupling
J. In the ferromagnetic regime, the transient spin decay is described by the scaling variable $x=2{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{F}\ensuremath{\mid}J(T)\ensuremath{\mid}Tt$. In the antiferromagnetic regime, the long-time decay is governed for
T<TK by the Kondo time scale
1∕TK. Here ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{F}$ is the conduction-electron density of states,
TK is the Kondo temperature, and
J(T) is the effective exchange coupling at temperature
T. Results for spin precession are obtained by rotating the external magnetic field from the
x axis to the
z axis.