Spin Fluctuations and the Magnetic Phase Diagram of ZrZn2

Abstract

The magnetic properties of the weak itinerant ferromagnet ZrZn_2 are analyzed using Landau theory based on a comparison of density functional calculations and experimental data as a function of field and pressure. We find that the magnetic properties are strongly affected by the nearby quantum critical point, even at zero pressure; LDA calculations neglecting quantum critical spin fluctuations overestimate the magnetization by a factor of approximately three. Using renormalized Landau theory, we extract pressure dependence of the fluctuation amplitude. It appears that a simple scaling based on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem provides a good description of this pressure dependence.