Magnetization processes in frustrated magnets

• Grant number: 21/13310-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: February 28, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Eric de Castro e Andrade
• Grantee: Gabriel Capelo Domingues
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Geometric frustration is the impossibility of satisfying all local interactions simultaneously in local moments magnetic systems, and it gives rise to a large degeneracy of ground states. Even in the instances where the systems shows long-ranged magnetic order at low temperatures, the frustration fingerprints appear in different physical observables. A notorious example is the magnetization process in antiferromagnetic systems. Here, we place this magnet in an external field and study the evolution of its uniform magnetization, as a function of the field, up to the polarized state. In this project, we will contrast the behavior of frustrated versus unfrustrated magnets in the presence of an external field, including classical and quantum fluctuations. In particular, we will discuss examples of frustrated magnetic systems displaying a plateau in their magnetization curve.(AU)