Orbital-Peierls State in NaTiSi2O6

Abstract

Does the quasi one-dimensional titanium pyroxene NaTiSi2O6 exhibit the novel {\it orbital-Peierls} state? We calculate its groundstate properties by three methods: Monte Carlo simulations, a spin-orbital decoupling scheme and a mapping onto a classical model. The results show univocally that for the spin and orbital ordering to occur at the same temperature --an experimental observation-- the crystal field needs to be small and the orbitals are active. We also find that quantum fluctuations in the spin-orbital sector drive the transition, explaining why canonical bandstructure methods fail to find it. The conclusion that NaTiSi2O6 shows an orbital-Peierls transition is therefore inevitable.

4 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Spin-Orbital Entanglement and Violation of the Goodenough-Kanamori Rules
• Orbital order in classical models of transition-metal compounds
• Entropy Driven Dimerization in a One-Dimensional Spin-Orbital Model

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Orbital physics in transition metal compounds: new trends
• Electronic structure and magnetic properties of pyroxenes (Li,Na)TM(Si,Ge)2O6: novel low-dimensional magnets with 90 bonds
• Muon-spin relaxation measurements on the dimerized spin-1/2 chains NaTiSi2O6 and TiOCl
• Optical study of MgTi${}_2$O${}_4$: Evidence for an orbital-Peierls state
• Dual Orbital Degeneracy Lifting in a Strongly Correlated Electron System
• Quantum liquid with strong orbital fluctuations: the case of a pyroxene family
• Cobalt-Based Pyroxenes: A New Playground for Kitaev Physics and Ising Model Realization
• Mechanism of ferromagnetic ordering of the Mn chains in CaMnGe${}_2$O${}_6$ clinopyroxene