University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The problem of spin and charge separation in condensed matter

Murdy, Christopher Marc

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Description

Title
The problem of spin and charge separation in condensed matter
Author(s)
Murdy, Christopher Marc
Issue Date
1994
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Fradkin, Eduardo H.
Department of Study
Physics
Discipline
Physics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Physics, Condensed Matter
Language
eng
Abstract
  • In this thesis, we study the problem of spin and charge separation in condensed matter. We focus primarily on Mott insulators at half-filling. It is known that one dimensional strongly correlated electronic systems display the phenomenon of spin and charge separation. We show that there exists a qualitatively different mechanism for the separation of spin and charge for two and higher dimensional strongly correlated electronic systems and that this mechanism is never available in one dimension.
  • The mechanism we found for spin and charge separation in two dimensional strongly correlated electronic systems is based on a picture of the electron as being a local bound state of two constituents, the slave spinon and slave holon. The slave spinon carries the electronic spin quantum number. The slave holon carries the electronic charge quantum number. The mechanism for spin and charge separation in this context is called deconfinement or the breaking of the bound state for the slave spinon and slave holon. The terminology of spinon and holon is also used to describe the separation of spin and charge in one dimensional strongly correlated electronic systems. However, these spinons and holons are unrelated to the slave spinons and slave holons as we demonstrate in this thesis.
  • We show that the condition that there be separation of spin and charge induced by the deconfinement of the slave holons and slave spinons severely constrains the nature of the ground state of the Mott insulator at half-filling. We characterize the magnetic properties of the ground state at half-filling which supports spin and charge separation upon doping. We compare this ground state, the short range resonating valence bond state (s-RVB), with other unconventional spin states.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/21756
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1994 Murdy, Christopher Marc

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