We present a microscopic theory for the low temperature metamagnetic phase diagram of HoNi_2B_2C that agrees well with experiments.For the same model we determined the zero field ground state as a function of temperature and find the c-axis commensurate to incommensurate transition in the expected temperature range. The complex behaviour of the system originates from the competition between the crystalline electric field and the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction, whose effective form is obtained. No essential influence of superconductivity has to be invoked to understand the magnetic phase diagram of this material.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/9706268,
title = {Microscopic Theory of Magnetic Phase Transitions in HoNi_2B_2C},
author = {A. Amici and P. Thalmeier},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/9706268},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
REVTex, 13 pages, 2 figures included. Published version, widely rewritten