Microscopic conditions favoring itinerant ferromagnetism

Abstract

A systematic investigation of the microscopic conditions stabilizing itinerant ferromagnetism of correlated electrons in a single-band model is presented. Quantitative results are obtained by quantum Monte Carlo simulations for a model with Hubbard interaction U and direct Heisenberg exchange interaction F within the dynamical mean-field theory. Special emphasis is placed on the investigation of (i) the distribution of spectral weight in the density of states, (ii) the importance of genuine correlations, and (iii) the significance of the direct exchange, for the stability of itinerant ferromagnetism at finite temperatures. We find that already a moderately strong peak in the density of states near the band edge suffices to stabilize ferromagnetism at intermediate U-values in a broad range of electron densities n. Correlation effects prove to be essential: Slater--Hartree-Fock results for the transition temperature are both qualitatively and quantitatively incorrect. The nearest-neighbor Heisenberg exchange does not, in general, play a decisive role. Detailed results for the magnetic phase diagram as a function of U, F, n, temperature T, and the asymmetry of the density of states are presented and discussed.