Thermodynamic analysis of magnetic phase transitions in the ferromagnetic superconductor UGe$_2$ at ambient pressure

Abstract

We study the possibility to apply phenomenological approach to the description of magnetic transitions in UGe$_2$ at ambient pressure with the help of Landau free energy expanded to 8th order in magnetisation. The analysis shows that for certain values of parameters in front of M4, and M6 terms in the free energy there is possibility for the appearance of two successive phase transitions between the low-magnetisation and high-magnetisation phases with the same magnetic structure. We establish the relation of the parameters in Landau energy, for which the phase transition from the disordered to low-magnetisation phase is of second order as the experimental data shows. We have also found the relations between the Landau coefficients which result in transition of crossover type between the low- and high-magnetisation phases when temperature is lowered.