Landau theory of compressible magnets near a quantum critical point

Landau theory is used to investigate the behavior of a metallic magnet driven toward a quantum critical point by the application of pressure. The observed dependence of the transition temperature with pressure is used to show that the coupling of the magnetic order to the lattice diverges as the quantum critical point is approached. This means that a first order transition will occur in magnets (both ferromagnets and antiferromagnets) because of the coupling to the lattice. The Landau equations are solved numerically without further approximations. There are other mechanisms that can cause a first order transition so the significance of this work is that it will enable us to determine the extent to which any particular first order transition is driven by coupling to the lattice or if other causes are responsible. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3366612]