Related papers: Mott and spin-Peierls physics in TiPO$_4$ under hi…
Sr$_{2}$IrO$_{4}$ with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and Hubbard repulsion (U) hosts Mott insulating states. The similar crystal structure, magnetic and electronic properties, particularly the $d$-wave gap observed in Sr$_{2}$IrO$_{4}$…
Protected by the interplay of on-site Coulomb interactions and spin-orbit coupling, Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ at high pressure is a rare example of a Mott insulator with a paramagnetic ground state. Here, using optical Raman scattering, we measure both…
The strongly correlated insulator Ca$_{2}$RuO$_4$ is considered as a paradigmatic realization of both spin-orbital physics and a band-Mott insulating phase, characterized by orbitally selective coexistence of a band and a Mott gap. We…
Correlated transition metal oxides present exciting prospects as switches or memory and storage devices owing to the possibility to control electronic properties using various external stimuli. While their complex behaviour is known to stem…
The low and high-temperature phases of V$_4$O$_7$ have been studied by \textit{ab initio} calculations. At high temperature, all V atoms are electronically equivalent and the material is metallic. Charge and orbital ordering, associated…
We study the problem of designing an artificial Mott insulator in a correlated oxide heterostructure. We consider the extreme limit of quantum confinement based on ionic discontinuity doping, and argue that a unique dimer Mott insulator can…
We study \textit{ab initio} a pyrochlore compound, CsW$_{2}$O$_{6}$, which exhibits a yet unexplained metal-insulator transition. We find that (1) the reported low-$T$ structure is likely inaccurate and the correct structure has a twice…
The spin-orbit Mott insulator Sr3Ir2O7 provides a fascinating playground to explore insulator-metal transition driven by intertwined charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom. Here, we report high pressure electric resistance and…
The spinel, MgTi$_2$O$_4$, undergoes a transition into a dimerized state at low temperatures that is expected to be a spin singlet. However, no signature of a singlet-triplet transition has been discovered, in part due to the difficulty of…
In the present review different effects related to the orbital degrees of freedom are discussed. Leaving aside such aspects as the superexchange mechanism of the cooperative Jahn-Teller distortions and different properties of…
The chromium spinels MgCr2O4 and ZnCr2O4 are prime examples of the highly frustrated pyrochlore lattice antiferromagnet. Experiment has carefully established that both materials, upon cooling, distort to lower symmetry and order…
We study the effect of a magnetic field on the low energy description of Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit (SO) coupling. In contrast to the standard case of the Hubbard model without SO coupling, we show that Peierls phases can…
We found direct experimental evidence for an orbital switching in the V 3d states across the metal-insulator transition in VO$_{2}$. We have used soft-x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the V $L_{2,3}$ edges as a sensitive local probe, and…
Interplay between orbital and spin degrees of freedom is theoretically studied for the phase transition to the spin-singlet state with lattice dimerization in pyroxene titanium oxides ATiSi2O6 (A=Na, Li). For the quasi one-dimensional…
Motivated by an experimental finding that the successive phase transitions in $\alpha$-Sr$_2$CrO$_4$ observed at ambient pressure ceases to exist under high pressures, we carry out the density-functional-theory-based electronic structure…
The local structure of the spinel LiRh$_2$O$_4$ has been studied using atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of powder x-ray diffraction data. This measurement is sensitive to the presence of short Rh-Rh bonds that form due to…
Dynamical properties of photoexcited states are theoretically studied in a one-dimensional Mott insulator dimerized by the spin-Peierls instability. Numerical calculations combined with a perturbative analysis have revealed that the lowest…
The recent observation of a insulator to metal transition (IMT) [I. Loa et al, PRL 87, 125501 (2001)] in pure LaMnO$_3$ at 32 GPa and room temperature, well above the Neel temperature (145 K) and below the Jahn-Teller transition temperature…
Temperature-dependent x-ray diffraction of the low-dimensional spin 1/2 quantum magnet TiOCl shows that the phase transition at T_{c2} = 90 K corresponds to a lowering of the lattice symmetry. Below T_{c1} = 66 K a twofold superstructure…
We have studied the S=1/2 quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet TiOCl using single crystal x-ray diffraction and inelastic x-ray scattering techniques. The Ti ions form staggered spin chains which dimerize below Tc1 = 66 K and have an…