Quantum Stoner-Wohlfarth Model

The quantum mechanical counterpart of the famous Stoner-Wohlfarth model—an easy-axis magnet in a tilted magnetic field—is studied theoretically and through simulations as a function of the spin size S in a sweeping longitudinal field. Beyond the classical Stoner-Wohlfarth transition, the sweeping field-induced adiabatic change of states slows down as S increases, leading to a dynamical quantum phase transition. This result gives us new insights to describe the collapse of the metastability from the viewpoint of a critical phenomenon associated with the Landau-Zener tunneling gaps. Furthermore, a beating of the amplitude of the magnetization (the spin-length fidelity) is discovered after the Stoner-Wohlfarth transition. The period of the beating, confirmed analytically, arises from a new type of quantum phase factor.