Peierls and spin-Peierls phase transitions in structurally unstable quasi-one-dimensional solids

Abstract

The Peierls and spin-Peierls phase transitions are studied in solids in which a structural instability is already present. It is found that the presence of this intrinsic mode can increase considerably the critical temperature. For small values of the critical temperature, the transition is of the BCS-type, like the Peierls (or spin-Peierls) phase transition, but with an effective electron (or spin)-phonon coupling constant renormalized by the anharmonicity and by the instability of the phonon. Numerical results are also presented for larger critical temperatures. Then the BCS behaviour is no longer observed.