Exotic Kondo effect in two one-dimensional spin-1/2 chains coupled to two localized spin-1/2 magnets

We study an exotic Kondo effect in a system consisting of two one-dimensional XX Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains (denoted by α=u,d for up and down chains) coupled to a quantum dot consisting of two localized spin-1/2 magnets. Using the Jordan–Wigner transformation on the Heisenberg Hamiltonian of the two chains, this system can be expressed in terms of non-interacting spinless fermionic quasiparticles. As a result, the Hamiltonian of the whole system is expressed as an Anderson model for spin-1/2 fermions interacting with a spin-1/2 impurity. Thus, we study the scattering of fermionic quasiparticles (propagating along spin chains) by a pair of localized magnetic impurities. At low temperature, the localized spin-1/2 magnets are shielded by the chain “spins” via the Kondo effect. We calculate the Kondo temperature TK and derive the temperature dependence of the entropy, the specific heat and the “magnetic susceptibility” of the dot for T≫TK. Our results can be generalized to the case of antiferromagnetic XX chains.