Exotic Kondo effect in two one dimensional spin 1/2 chains coupled to two localized spin 1/2 magnets

Abstract

We study an exotic Kondo effect in a system consisting of two one-dimensional XX Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin $1/2$ chains (denoted by $\alpha =u,d$ for up and down chains) coupled to a quantum dot consisting of two localized spin $1/2$ magnets. Using the Jordan-Wigner transformation on the Heisenberg Hamiltonian of the two chains, this system can be expressed in terms of non-interacting spinless fermionic quasiparticles. As a result, the Hamiltonian of the whole system is expressed as an Anderson model for spin 1/2 fermions interacting with a spin-1/2 impurity. Thus, we study the scattering of fermionic quasiparticles (propagating along spin chains) by a pair of localized magnetic impurities. At low temperature, the localized spin $1/2$ magnets are shielded by the chain `spins' via the Kondo effect. We calculate the Kondo temperature $T_K$ and derive the temperature dependence of the entropy, the specific heat, the specific heat and the `magnetic susceptibility' of the dot for $T\gg T_K$. Our results can be generalized to the case of anti-ferromagnetic XX chains.

6 pages, 4 figures