Quantum phase transitions of magnetic rotons

Abstract

Due to weak spin-orbit coupling, the magnetic excitations of an itinerant ferromagnet become magnetic rotons, excitations with degenerate minima on a hypersphere at finite wavevector. Using self-consistent Hartree and renormalization group calculations, we study weak fluctuation-driven first-order quantum phase transitions, a quantum tricritical point controlled by anisotropy and the non-Fermi liquid behavior associated with the large phase volume of magnetic rotons. We propose that magnetic rotons are essential for the description of the anomalous high-pressure behavior of the itinerant helical ferromagnet MnSi.