Anisotropy and temperature dependence of the optical conductivity in LaMnO_3

TL;DR

This study models the optical conductivity of LaMnO_3 across temperatures using a tight binding approach and mean field theory, predicting significant temperature-dependent changes in optical absorption.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to understand temperature effects on optical properties in LaMnO_3, linking interactions to observable optical behavior.

Findings

Predicted notable temperature-dependent changes in optical absorption.

Established a method to extract interaction strengths from optical data.

Provided detailed optical conductivity tensor as a function of temperature.

Abstract

A tight binding parameterization of the band structure, along with a mean field treatment of Hund, electron-electron, and electron-lattice couplings, is used to obtain the full optical conductivity tensor of LaMnO_3 as a function of temperature. We predict striking changes with temperature in the functional form and magnitude of the optical absorption. Comparison of our results to data will determine the Hund, electron-lattice, and electron-electron interactions.