Phase Diagram of the Frustrated Square-Lattice Hubbard Model: Variational Cluster Approach

Abstract: The variational cluster approximation is used to study the frustrated Hubbard model at half filling defined on the two-dimensional square lattice with anisotropic next-nearest-neighbor hopping parameters. We calculate the ground-state phase diagrams of the model in a wide parameter space for a variety of lattice geometries, including square, crossed-square, and triangular lattices. We examine the Mott metal-insulator transition and show that, in the Mott insulating phase, magnetic phases with N\'eel, collinear, and spiral orders appear in relevant parameter regions, and in an intermediate region between these phases, a nonmagnetic insulating phase caused by the quantum fluctuations in the geometrically frustrated spin degrees of freedom emerges.