Title
Emergent Magnetic Degeneracy in Iron Pnictides due to the Interplay between Spin-Orbit Coupling and Quantum Fluctuations
Publication Date
8-3-2018
Department
Physics and Astronomy; Ames Laboratory
Campus Units
Physics and Astronomy, Ames Laboratory
OSTI ID+
1464480
Report Number
IS-J 9727
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.057001
Journal Title
Physical Review Letters
Volume Number
121
Issue Number
5
First Page
057001
Abstract
Recent experiments in iron pnictide superconductors reveal that, as the putative magnetic quantum critical point is approached, different types of magnetic order coexist over a narrow region of the phase diagram. Although these magnetic configurations share the same wave vectors, they break distinct symmetries of the lattice. Importantly, the highest superconducting transition temperature takes place close to this proliferation of near-degenerate magnetic states. In this Letter, we employ a renormalization group calculation to show that such a behavior naturally arises due to the effects of spin-orbit coupling on the quantum magnetic fluctuations. Formally, the enhanced magnetic degeneracy near the quantum critical point is manifested as a stable Gaussian fixed point with a large basin of attraction. Implications of our findings to the superconductivity of the iron pnictides are also discussed.
Language
en
Publisher
Iowa State University Digital Repository, Ames IA (United States)
