Interplay between Electronic, Magnetic and Structural Degrees of Freedom in Crystalline Transition Metal Compounds

Abstract

Crystalline Transition Metal Compounds (TMC) show a diverse amount of physical properties. They can be from good metals to semiconductors or insulators, and they can develop intriguing ordered phases such as ferromagnetism or superconductivity. It is the subtle interplay between their electronic, magnetic and structural degrees of freedom that leads to those different ground state properties and phase transitions. This heterogeneous behaviour makes TMC highly interesting from a technological point of view, but also from a more fundamental perspective. In this thesis we study from a theoretical point of view the interplay between the electronic, magnetic and structural degrees of freedom in TMC. The theoretical aspects and methods presented here together with the studies on representative TMC provide a reliable source of fundamental understanding in the contemporary area of Condensed Matter Physics.