8.

5 Effectsof Degeneracy 469

notations are introduced in the solution to Problem 8.3, see p. 493)

This would be, however, unphysical because hopping can give only

The z-component of a site spin can only change in steps of 1/2 because
the underlying process is the hopping of an electron. This is obeyed if
we use the proper f because the amplitude of the process (8.48) becomes
+
1 2(,!?1)2(&)z = 0. Keeping the sign factor does not merely replace
one numerical value with another: it also serves to filter out unphysical
processes.
We have to include a biquadratic term in order to describe the case
of S = 1 core spins

(8.49)

The effective Hamiltonian for S = 3/2 (which is relevant for doped

LaMnOs) is still more complicated, and includes a bicubic term [299,
3371. It might appear as if we have got an electronic mechanism for
generating spin models with large biquadratic, and higher-order, cou-
plings. We have to remember, however, that the status of the models
treated here is very different from that of the Heisenberg models we
met earlier. The couplings (8.47) and (8.49) act only between sites
with unequal spins (different number of electrons), and describe the
real motion of charge in a conductor37. In contrast, the terms of the
bilinear-biquadratic model (5.142) (see p. 261) arise from virtual hop-
ping processes in a Mott insulator.
If we want to relate (8.47) to a Hamiltonian we met earlier, we have
to recall the J = 0 case of the t-J model, the pure t-model

371tis a conductor in the sense of being doped away from the Mott insulator state.
It is not clear, however, whether it is a “good metal” with sharp quasiparticle states.