Field-induced quantum criticality of a spin-1/2 planar ferromagnet

Abstract

The low-temperature critical properties and crossovers of a spin-½ planar ferromagnet in a longitudinal magnetic field are explored in terms of an anisotropic bosonic action, suitable to describe the spin model in the low-temperature regime. This is performed adopting a procedure which combines an averaging over dynamic degrees of freedom and the classical Wilson renormalization group transformation. Within this framework we get the phase boundary, ending in a quantum critical point, and general expressions for the correlation length and susceptibility as functions of the temperature and the applied magnetic field within the disordered phase. In particular, two crossovers occur decreasing the temperature with the magnetic field fixed at its quantum critical point value, which might be actually observable in complex magnetic compounds, as suggested by recent experiments.