476 Ch.

8 Ferromagnetism in Hubbard Models

to go much beyond the considerations presented in Sec. 5.4.

For a start, we take the view that LaMnO3 is a robust Mott insulator,
i.e., its insulating nature is due to strong local correlations and it is
not contingent upon such additional features as magnetic ordering or a
Jahn-Teller distortion4’. Furthermore, we assume spin-only moments,
and neglect spin-orbit effects.
We learned in Sec. 5.4 that exploiting the two-fold degeneracy of the
eg orbital, we can derive a ferromagnetic kinetic exchange interaction
which at the same time gives rise to staggered orbital order. Considering
only this, LaMnO3 might have assumed the orbital order dr2-y2/d3322-,.2
shown in Fig. 5.2 (Ieft), and become a ferromagnet. This does not hap-
pen, but it almost does. LaMnO3 is a foiled ferromagnet, consisting of
ferromagnetic planes which are coupled antiferromagnetically (Fig. 5.3,
right). The in-plane ferromagnetic coupling J M -lOK is somewhat
stronger than the inter-plane antiferromagnetic J‘ NN 7K “2771.
There are a number of factors to consider. First recall that Mn3+ -A
tgge; is a Jahn-Teller ion in its S = 2 high-spin state (see Fig. 3.5,right).
The above-mentioned orbital order d , ~ - ~ /~l3~2-,.2
2 would be accompa-
nied by the corresponding antiferrodistortive pattern of Jahn-Teller dis-
tortions. However, a cooperative Jahn-Teller effect has an energetics of
its own; intercell elastic forces may prefer a different pattern of distor-
tions, and thus enforce a different kind of orbital order -A a different
magnetic order. It is also well to remember that perovskites are noted
for their tendency to undergo structural phase transitions even if there is
no Jahn-Teller effect or magnetism to speak about (BaTiO3 and SrTiO3
are well-known examples). Thus it is best to allow the lattice to play
with the distortion pattern A-. orbital order, and check what follows for
magnetism41. Finally, we should not completely forget the antiferro-
40LSDA band structure calculations do not confirm the strongly localized moment
picture of LaMnO3 and ascribe its insulating nature to the tetragonal Jahn-Teller
distortion. It is a usual dichotomy in solid state physics that density functional
theory does not describe Mott insulating behaviour in any direct sense, but it offers
an attractive explanation of many details in recompense (see Sec. 7.7.2). In our case,
this includes the small (-J 0 . 3 1 ~orbital
) component of the ordered moment, and the

-
weak canting of sublattice magnetizations due to spin-orbit interaction which gives
an overall 0 . 1 uniform
~~ moment [368]. Our discussion neglects these fine features.

41 We note, however, the claim that the magnetic order of LaMnOs can be under-