Self-energy | EPFL Graph Search

In quantum field theory, the energy that a particle has as a result of changes that it causes in its environment defines self-energy \Sigma, and represents the contribution to the particle's energy, or effective mass, due to interactions between the particle and its environment. In electrostatics, the energy required to assemble the charge distribution takes the form of self-energy by bringing in the constituent charges from infinity, where the electric force goes to zero. In a condensed matter context relevant to electrons moving in a material, the self-energy represents the potential felt by the electron due to the surrounding medium's interactions with it. Since electrons repel each other the moving electron polarizes, or causes to displace the electrons in its vicinity and then changes the potential of the moving electron fields. These are examples of self-energy. Characteristics Mathematically, this energy is equal to the so-called on mass shell value of

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering of magnetic excitations under pressure

Matteo Rossi

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is an extremely valuable tool for the study of elementary, including magnetic, excitations in matter. The latest developments of this technique have mostly been aimed at improving the energy resolution and performing polarization analysis of the scattered radiation, with a great impact on the interpretation and applicability of RIXS. Instead, this article focuses on the sample environment and presents a setup for high-pressure low-temperature RIXS measurements of low-energy excitations. The feasibility of these experiments is proved by probing the magnetic excitations of the bilayer iridate Sr3Ir2O7 at pressures up to 12GPa.

2019

Microscopic theory for the Markovian decay of magnetization fluctuations in nanomagnets

Ioannis Rousochatzakis

We present a microscopic theory for the phonon-driven decay of the magnetization fluctuations in a wide class of nanomagnets where the dominant energy is set by isotropic exchange and/or uniaxial anisotropy. Based on the Zwanzig-Mori projection formalism, the theory reveals that the magnetization fluctuations are governed by a single decay rate omega(c), which we further identify with the zero-frequency portion of the associated self-energy. This dynamical decoupling from the remaining slow degrees of freedom is attributed to a conservation law and the discreteness of the energy spectrum and explains the omnipresent monoexponential decay of the magnetization over several decades in time, as observed experimentally. A physically transparent analytical expression for omega(c) is derived which highlights the three specific mechanisms of the slowing-down effect which are known so far in nanomagnets.

2007

Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Studies of Low-Dimensional and Frustrated 3d Transition-Metal Oxides

Yi Tseng

3d transition-metal oxide materials with strong electron correlations and low dimensionality give rise to emerging exotic phases. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) has developed as a powerful spectroscopic tool for probing the collective excitations in such correlated materials. The RIXS technique provides an ideal approach for assessing electronic instabilities in condensed matter. This thesis comprises the experimental RIXS response of the spin chain-ladder cuprates Sr14-xCax(Cu,Co)24O41 and frustrated honeycomb nickelate Na2Ni2TeO6. The spin and charge excitations of Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 (x=0 & 12.2) are studied by Cu L3-edge RIXS. With increasing Ca content, a crossover from collective two-triplon excitations (x=0) to a damped incoherent magnetic spectrum ~280 meV (x=12.2) in the ladders is uncovered from the RIXS spectra, dominated by spin-flip ÎS=1 scattering. With model calculations, the localized broad magnetic mode at x=12.2 is shown to be a consequence of enhanced elecrtronic localization. This is supported by polarization-dependent measurements, where the evaluated non-spin-flip ÎS=0 scattering is showing weight depletion below 1 eV. The RIXS spectral evolution suggests that a suppressed carrier mobility dominates the low-energy physics in Ca-rich phases. The low-energy excitations of Sr14Cu24O41 are also studied by O K-edge RIXS at the upper Hubbard band. The RIXS spectra show a sharp dispersing peak of similar energies to the ÎS=1 two-triplon excitations, and a broad non-dispersive mode at higher-energy. By comparing the experimental results to the existing theories of doped ladders, the observed spectral modes are attributed to interacting holon-spinon quasiparticles, with additional spectral contributions from the ÎS=0 multi-triplon bound states and continuum. These observations highlight the RIXS capability for resolving composite spin-charge quasiparticles and long-lived ÎS=0 magnetic excitations, which are difficult to detect by other experiments. Charge order and phonons for the two-leg ladders of Sr14(Cu,Co)24O41 are studied. At the ladder hole peak in O K-edge XAS signal, a concomitant elastic enhancement and phonon-softening is observed across all Co doping levels. The in-plane diffraction and phonon-softening response are found to enhance with increasing Co doping. Morevoer, the observed diffraction signal is further characterized by energy- and temperature-dependent measurements. Lastly, given the strong electron-phonon coupling (EPC) observed in O K-edge RIXS spectra, the EPC strength can be analyzed from the RIXS intensity decay of the phonon overtones . The observed in-plane resonant diffraction and inelastic phonon response strongly suggest an enhanced stripe order via magnetic impurities, reminiscent of the reports in CuO4 plaquettes. Electronic structure and EPC of the honeycomb nickelate Na2Ni2TeO6 are studied. Compared with current literature, the localized excitations (1-4 eV) in the Ni L3-edge RIXS spectra are dominated by the crystal-field splitting of a Ni2+ ion in octahedral coordination. At the O K-edge, the large EPC ~285 meV with 5 recognizable overtones (frequency of ~80 meV) are revealed in the RIXS spectra. The observed modes provide a systematic characterization of charge, orbital and lattice dynamics for a newly proposed frustrated antiferromagnet. This thesis has been carried out in a collaboration between the Paul Scherrer Institut and the Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism at EPFL.

EPFL2021

Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Studies of Low-Dimensional and Frustrated 3d Transition-Metal Oxides

Yi Tseng

EPFL2021