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HoNiSi$_{3}$ is an intermetallic compound characterized by two successive antiferromagnetic transitions at $T_{N1} = 6.3$ K and $T_{N2} = 10.4$ K. Here, its zero-field microscopic magnetic structure is inferred from resonant x-ray magnetic diffraction experiments on a single crystalline sample that complement previous bulk magnetic susceptibility data. For $T < T_{N2}$, the primitive magnetic unit cell matches the chemical cell. The magnetic structure features ferromagnetic {\it ac} planes stacked in an antiferromagnetic $\uparrow \downarrow \uparrow \downarrow$ pattern. For $T_{N1} < T < T_{N2}$, the ordered magnetic moment points along $\vec{a}$, and for $T < T_{N1}$ a component along $\vec{c}$ also orders. A symmetry analysis indicates that the magnetic structure for $T

We compute the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in the GdTX (T=Sc, Ti, Co, Fe; X=Si, Ge) compounds as a function of the temperature and the external magnetic field. To this end we use a density functional theory approach to calculate the exchange-coupling interactions between Gd$^{3+}$ ions on each compound. We consider a simplified magnetic Hamiltonian and analyze the dependence of the exchange couplings on the transition metal T, the p-block element X, and the crystal structure (CeFeSi-type or CeScSi-type). The most significant effects are observed for the replacements Ti $\to$ Sc or Fe $\to$ Co which have an associated change in the parity of the electron number in the 3d level. These replacements lead to an antiferromagnetic contribution to the magnetic couplings that reduces the Curie temperature and can even lead to an antiferromagnetic ground state. We solve the magnetic models through mean field and Monte Carlo calculations and find large variations among compounds in the magnetic transition temperature and in the magnetocaloric effect, in agreement with the available experimental data. The magnetocaloric effect shows a universal behavior as a function of temperature and magnetic field in the ferromagnetic compounds after a scaling of the relevant energy scales by the Curie temperature $T_C$., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures

We present a theoretical analysis of the magnetic phase diagram of CeTi$_{1-x}$Sc$_{x}$Ge and GdFe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$Si as a function of the temperature and the Sc and Co concentration $x$, respectively. CeScGe and GdCoSi, as many other RTX (R=rare earth, T=transition metal, X=p-block element) compounds, present a tetragonal crystal structure where bilayers of R are separated by layers of T and X. While GdFeSi and CeTi$_{0.75}$Sc$_{0.25}$Ge are ferromagnetic, CeScGe and GdCoSi order antiferromagnetically with the R 4f magnetic moments on the same bilayer aligned ferromagnetically and magnetic moments in nearest neighbouring bilayers aligned antiferromagnetically. The antiferromagnetic transition temperature $T_N$ decreases with decreasing concentration $x$ in both compounds and for low enough values of $x$ the compounds show a ferromagnetic behavior. Based on these observations we construct a simplified model Hamiltonian that we solve numerically for the specific heat and the magnetization. We find a good qualitative agreement between the model and the experimental data. Our results show that the main magnetic effect of the Sc $\to$ Ti and Co $\to$ Fe substitution in these compounds is consistent with a change in the sign of the exchange coupling between magnetic moments in neighbouring bilayers. We expect a similar phenomenology for other magnetic RTX compounds with the same type of crystal structure., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

We report detailed thermal expansion and magnetostriction experiments on GdCoIn$_5$ and GdRhIn$_5$ single crystal samples that show a sudden change in the dilation at a field B$^\ast$ for temperatures below the N\'eel transition temperature TN. We present a first-principles model including crystal-field effects, dipolar and exchange interactions, and the dependence of the exchange couplings with lattice distortions in order to fully account for the magnetostriction and magnetic susceptibility data. The mean-field solution of the model shows that a transition between metastable states occurs at the field B$^\ast$. It also indicates that two degenerate phases coexist in the sample at temperatures below TN. This allows to explain the lack of observation, in high resolution x-ray experiments, of an orthorhombic distortion at the N\'eeel transition even though the magnetic structure breaks the tetragonal symmetry and the magnetoelastic coupling is significant. These conclusions could be extended to other tetragonal Gd-based compounds that present the same phenomenology., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

We present a phenomenological analysis of the magnetoelastic properties of CeCo$_{0.85}$Fe$_{0.15}$Si at temperatures close to the N\'eel transition temperature $T_N$. Using a Landau functional we provide a qualitative description of the thermal expansion, magnetostriction, magnetization and specific heat data. We show that the available experimental results [Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 28 346003 (2016)] are consistent with the presence of a structural transition at $T_s\gtrsim T_N$ and a strong magnetoelastic coupling. The magnetoelastic coupling presents a Janus-faced effect: while the structural transition is shifted to higher temperatures as the magnetic field is increased, the resulting striction at low temperatures decreases. The strong magnetoelastic coupling and the proximity of the structural transition to the onset temperature for magnetic fluctuations, suggest that the transition could be an analogue of the tetragonal to orthorhombic observed in Fe-based pcnictides., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

We investigate the effects of an applied magnetic field on the magnetic properties of the antiferromagnet GdCoIn$_5$. The prominent anisotropy observed in the susceptibility below $T_N$ is rapidly suppressed by a field of just a few Tesla. Further evidence of this low energy-scale is obtained from magnetoresistance and magnetostriction experiments. The lattice lenght, particulary, shows a sudden change below 2 Tesla when the magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the crystallographic $\hat{c}$-axis. The experimental results as a whole can be attributed to a small but non negligible higher-order crystalline electric field., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures

For a mobile spin-1/2 impurity, coupled antiferromagnetically to a one-dimensional gas of fermions, perturbative ideas have been used to argue in favor of two-channel Kondo behavior of the impurity spin. Here we combine general considerations and extensive numerical simulations to show that the problem displays a novel quantum phase transition between two-channel and one-channel Kondo screening upon increasing the Kondo coupling. We construct a ground-state phase diagram and discuss the various non-trivial crossovers as well as possible experimental realizations., Comment: 5+4 pages, 5+3 figs

A new numerical method for the solution of the Dynamical Mean Field Theory's self-consistent equations is introduced. The method uses the Density Matrix Renormalization Group technique to solve the associated impurity problem. The new algorithm makes no a priori approximations and is only limited by the number of sites that can be considered. We obtain accurate estimates of the critical values of the metal-insulator transitions and provide evidence of substructure in the Hubbard bands of the correlated metal. With this algorithm, more complex models having a larger number of degrees of freedom can be considered and finite-size effects can be minimized., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures