Magnetism in recently discovered van der Waals materials has opened several avenues in the study of fundamental spin interactions in truly two-dimensions. A paramount question is what effect higher-order interactions beyond bilinear Heisenberg exchange have on the magnetic properties of few-atom thick compounds. Here we demonstrate that biquadratic exchange interactions, which is the simplest and most natural form of non-Heisenberg coupling, assume a key role in the magnetic properties of layered magnets. Using a combination of nonperturbative analytical techniques, non-collinear first-principles methods and classical Monte Carlo calculations that incorporate higher-order exchange, we show that several quantities including magnetic anisotropies, spin-wave gaps and topological spin-excitations are intrinsically renormalized leading to further thermal stability of the layers. We develop a spin Hamiltonian that also contains antisymmetric exchanges (e.g., Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions) to successfully rationalize numerous observations, such as the non-Ising character of several compounds despite a strong magnetic anisotropy, peculiarities of the magnon spectrum of 2D magnets, and the discrepancy between measured and calculated Curie temperatures. Our results provide a theoretical framework for the exploration of different physical phenomena in 2D magnets where biquadratic exchange interactions have an important contribution.

Spin cross-over molecules show the unique ability to switch between two spin states when submitted to external stimuli such as temperature, light or voltage. If controlled at the molecular scale, such switches would be of great interest for the development of genuine molecular devices in spintronics, sensing and for nanomechanics. Unfortunately, up to now, little is known on the behaviour of spin cross-over molecules organized in two dimensions and their ability to show cooperative transformation. Here we demonstrate that a combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements and ab initio calculations allows discriminating unambiguously between both states by local vibrational spectroscopy. We also show that a single layer of spin cross-over molecules in contact with a metallic surface displays light-induced collective processes between two ordered mixed spin-state phases with two distinct timescale dynamics. These results open a way to molecular scale control of two-dimensional spin cross-over layers.

We present inq, a new implementation of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) written from scratch to work on graphic processing units (GPUs). Besides GPU support, inq makes use of modern code design features and takes advantage of newly available hardware. By designing the code around algorithms, rather than against specific implementations and numerical libraries, we aim to provide a concise and modular code. The result is a fairly complete DFT/TDDFT implementation in roughly 12 000 lines of open-source C++ code representing a modular platform for community-driven application development on emerging high-performance computing architectures.

We investigate the static and dynamical behavior of one-dimensional interacting fermions in disordered Hubbard chains contacted to semi-infinite leads. The chains are described via the repulsive Anderson-Hubbard Hamiltonian, using static and time-dependent lattice density-functional theory. The dynamical behavior of our quantum transport system is studied using an integration scheme available in the literature, which we modify via the recursive Lanczos method to increase its efficiency. To quantify the degree of localization due to disorder and interactions, we adapt the definition of the inverse participation ratio to obtain an indicator which is suitable for quantum transport geometries and can be obtained within density-functional theory. Lattice density-functional theories are reviewed and, for contacted chains, we analyze the merits and limits of the coherent-potential approximation in describing the spectral properties, with interactions included via lattice density-functional theory. Our approach appears to be able to capture complex features due to the competition between disorder and interactions. Specifically, we find a dynamical enhancement of delocalization in the presence of a finite bias and an increase of the steady-state current induced by interparticle interactions. This behavior is corroborated by results for the time-dependent densities and for the inverse participation ratio. Using short isolated chains with interaction and disorder, a brief comparative analysis between time-dependent density-functional theory and exact results is then given, followed by general concluding remarks.

Most of the experimentally discovered compounds in the iron–nitrogen system belong to the low concentration part of the Fe–N phase diagram. In our paper, which is based on ab initio calculations, we have studied the formation and stability of high-pressure iron mono-nitride phases, and in particular a new magnetic phase with a NiAs-type structure. We have investigated the role of dynamic, thermodynamic and electronic properties, such as electronic correlations and pressure-induced phase stabilisation. Additionally, we have demonstrated that the new hexagonal FeN phase is stable over a wide range of external pressures and can persist at zero pressure as a metastable phase. Further, we have shown that this phase has a relatively low Curie temperature and may possess non-collinear magnetism.