Au cours de la dernière décennie, le grand public a pris conscience de l’impact économique, social et environnemental de la pollution dû à l’usage des énergies fossiles. Non seulement du fait de la raréfaction des énergies fossiles mais aussi la limitation de leur usage et de leur impact sur l’environnement est important, ce qui amène à remplacer ces sources traditionnelles par des sources d’énergie alternatives, propres et renouvelables. Depuis ces dernières années l’industrie automobile montre un intérêt croissant pour la conception de véhicules électriques hybrides. Cependant la transition vers un parc de voitures plus électriques est limitée par le coût encore élevé, l’autonomie et le temps de recharge électrique long. Un système distribué de transfert de puissance par induction (IPT) peut être une solution pour rallonger l’autonomie des véhicules électriques (EV’s) en permettant la recharge tout en roulant, grâce à des séries d’inducteurs couplés, réduisant aussi la taille de la batterie nécessaire et donc son coût. Le concept de transfert de puissance sans fil a été introduit il y a plus de 20 ans. Aujourd’hui les avancées technologiques et les hauts rendements des composants rendent cette solution viable pour les applications transport. Ce travail de thèse concerne donc le design et le contrôle d’un système de recharge efficace par induction d’une batterie à bord d’un véhicule sujet dans ce cas à des désalignements entre inducteurs. Un état de l’art sur le principe de transfert de puissance par induction est effectué et une structure DD-BP est proposée afin d’avoir un bon rendement pour le transfert de puissance et une moindre sensibilité en présence de désalignement et au mouvement, un inducteur étant sous la route, l’autre à bord du véhicule. Pour cela les dimensionnements de ces inducteurs et les analyses de l’impact des structures des inducteurs sont effectués par simulation à éléments finis des champs magnétiques produits et échangés. De plus, un modèle circuit équivalent et un modèle mathématique ont été établis incluant des circuits compensateurs. L’ensemble du système IPT a été séparé en deux parties, l’une alternative (AC), l’autre continue (DC). La simulation du modèle électrique (PSIM) et mathématique (MATLAB) montrent une bonne correspondance, à l’aide du modèle mathématique une étude complète a été possible en fonction des fréquences, des courants et des désalignements selon les 3 axes. La structure IPT spécifique pour cette application EV montre la faisabilité et l’efficacité de la recharge de la batterie en mouvement, en fixant une fréquence, malgré un assez grand entrefer (distance z entre la route et le châssis) et des variations de couplage (désalignement x ou y). Ce bon comportement est obtenu par le design des inducteurs et le bon contrôle des convertisseurs de recharge de la batterie (double buck-boost). / During the last decades, public awareness of the environmental, economic and social consequences of using fossil fuels has considerably grown. Moreover, not only the supply of fossil resources is limited, but also the environmental impact represents a relevant issue, so leading to an increased consideration of clean and renewable alternatives to traditional technologies. During recent years, the automotive industry has shown a growing interest in electric and hybrid electric vehicles. However, the transition to all-electric transportation is now limited by the high cost of the vehicles, the limited range and the long recharging time. Distributed IPT (inductive power transfer) systems can be the solution to the range restrictions of EVs by charging the vehicle while driving thanks to, a set of loosely coupled coils, so also reducing required battery size as well as overall cost of the vehicle. The concept of wireless power transfer via magnetic induction was introduced two decades ago. Nowadays, this technology is becoming more efficient and more suitable for new applications. This dissertation made an effort to address the requirements of IPT EV battery charging system with high efficiency and good tolerance to misalignment. A survey of a typical IPT for EV application has been reported, while a concentrated DD-BP solution has been proposed in order to enhance the IPT charging system capability of transferring power to a stationary EV with good efficiency and good tolerance to movement. The current trend in EV battery charging application is represented by the lamped coil system, whose different structures have been reviewed. Moreover, this thesis presented the design of a charging pad magnetic structure, called Double D pad combined with a Bipolar secondary pad, in order to enhance coupling performance. A finite element magnetic analysis has been performed in order to obtain the electric parameters of the proposed magnetic coupler. Furthermore, a mathematical model has been developed by considering the different sides of the system. The mathematical model allows to accurately predict the behavior of inductive coils and coreless transformer. A set of simulation has been carried out in order to compare the analytical and simulated results. The proposed EV IPT system has shown the feasibility of using fixed frequency, single pick up system to transfer power efficiently across a large air gap, with variable coupling. This result has been reached by means of proper design of the charging pad magnetics, of tuning network and of a pick-control based on a buck boost converter topology.

We have modeled some magnetic systems, which consists of a number of sublattices, in the mean field approximation. This is possible in crystalline systems formed by two or more magnetic ions coupled by specific interactions such as the crystal field, exchange, among others. The main idea is to solve the microscopic Hamiltonian that models a given magnetic system in order to obtain their magnetic equation of state: M (H, T). For this, we use the appropriate arrangements to different magnetic (ferro-, ferri- and antiferro- magnetic) scheme sublattices. From the solutions of the Hamiltonian (eigenvalues and eigenvectors), physical quantities of interest were determined. In principle we consider systems with localized magnetism due to 3d and 4f electrons with the participation of non-magnetic ligands including 3d-4f systems with the presence of crystal field. In this dissertation we use the model of two-and three sublattices in order to obtain the equation of state for the following systems: RKKY exchange in RNi2B2C, superexchange in (Y3-zRz)(T1xFe1-x)(T2yFe3-y)O12, LixFe3- xO4 and (NixMn1-x)1.5[Cr(CN)6]. In these formulas, R represents a rare earth ion, T1 and T2 represent non-magnetic ions. Some representative cases are presented to illustrate the different equations of state and behavior of sublattices, metamagnetism, temperature compensation, etc. The extension to other similar systems can be direct or need to incorporate additional phenomenological parameters. / Consideramos neste estudo sistemas magnéticos modeláveis mediante sub- redes na aproximação do campo médio. Isto é possível em sistemas cristalinos formados por dois ou mais íons magnéticos acoplados por interações específicas como as do campo cristalino, troca, entre outros. A ideia central é resolver o hamiltoniano microscópico que modela um determinado sistema magnético de maneira a se obter sua equação de estado magnética: M(H,T). Para isto usamos o esquema de sub- redes adequado a diferentes arranjos magnéticos (ferro-, ferri- e antiferro- magnéticos). Com as soluções do hamiltoniano (autovalores e autovetores), grandezas físicas de interesse foram determinadas. Em princípio, consideramos sistemas com magnetismo localizado devido a elétrons 3d e 4f com participação de ligandos não magnéticos incluindo sistemas 3d-4f com presença de campo cristalino. Neste trabalho de dissertação empregamos o modelo de duas e três sub- redes para obter as equações de estado nos seguintes sistemas: troca tipo RKKY em RNi2B2C, supertroca em (Y3-zRz)(T1xFe1-x)(T2yFe3-y)O12, LixFe3-xO4 e (NixMn1- x)1.5[Cr(CN)6]. Nestas fórmulas, R representa um íon de terra rara, T1 e T2 representam íons não magnéticos. Alguns casos representativos são apresentados para exemplificar as diferentes equações de estado e comportamento das sub- redes, metamagnetismo, temperatura de compensação etc. Em princípio, a extensão para outros sistemas semelhantes, usando os modelos apresentados aqui, pode ser direta ou precisar incorporar parâmetros fenomenológicos adicionais.

Les travaux de recherche présentés dans ce document portent sur le dimensionnement de machines synchrones pour des applications de véhicules hybrides. L’utilisation de la machine électrique au sein du véhicule hybride est caractérisée par des appels de puissance de courtes durées. Cette thèse propose donc une stratégie de dimensionnement permettant de minimiser considérablement le volume de l’actionneur par la prise en compte des limites thermiques réelles lors du cycle de conduite. La stratégie de dimensionnement est composée de deux étapes. La première étape est l'optimisation du dimensionnement de l’actionneur a partir des points de fonctionnement du cycle. Nous autorisons des niveaux d’induction dans le fer élevés et des niveaux de densité de courant dans les conducteurs dépassant les niveaux habituellement autorises pour un fonctionnement en régime permanent thermique. Ces deux points ont un impact réel sur le volume de la machine. Cela-dit, a ce stade, la thermique de la machine n’est prise en compte qu’indirectement en fixant une densité decourant dans les conducteurs. La seconde étape permet alors de vérifier la thermique par une simulation sur cycle pour ensuite réajuster si besoin la densité de courant et reprendre la première étape d’optimisation de la machine. Des modèles adaptes au processus d’optimisation ont alors été mis en place et offrent un bon compromis entre le temps de calcul et la précision requise. Par conséquent, un modèle magnétique prenant en compte la saturation croisée dans la machine utilisant la méthode nodale a été développé ; un modèle permettant une meilleure prise en compte des pertes fer notamment dans le zone de défluxage a également été développé ainsi qu’un modèle thermique en transitoire utilisant également la méthode nodale. Le modèle thermique étant la clé de la stratégie de dimensionnement, une grande attention y a été portée. Ce modèle permet de prendre en compte la direction des flux dans les trois dimensions et fournit de bonnes estimations des températures dans la machine notamment aux endroits les plus chauds comme les encoches et lestêtes de bobines. Ces résultats ont été corrobores par des essais expérimentaux réalisés dans les bancs IFPEN sur une machine spécialement instrumentée en thermocouples. Cela a permis de valider le comportement thermique en régime permanent thermique et en régime transitoire thermique. Ces modèles ont ensuite été implantes dans une modélisation multi-physique pour l’outil d’optimisation et pour l’outil de simulation. Une étude de cas a été présentée pour un véhiculehybride Kangoo ou la machine doit pouvoir assurer son fonctionnement pour un cycle Artemis urbain. Les résultats de la stratégie de dimensionnement permettent alors de conclure que sur cycle, le volume extérieur des parties actives de la machine électrique peut-être réduit de 40 % par rapport a un dimensionnement établi par les règles de l’art en régime permanent. De plus, la réduction du volume de fer dans la machine induit également une réduction des pertes fer ce qui nous permet de conclure que, toujours sur cycle, son rendement moyen reste élevé. / This work deals with the sizing of synchronous machines for hybrid vehicle applications. The use of the machine in the hybrid vehicle is characterized by high power consumption during a short time. This work proposes a strategy for minimizing the volume of the actuator by taking into account the real limits of temperature during the operating cycle. The sizing strategy is composed of two steps. The first step is the sizing optimization of the actuator with the operating point of the cycle. In thisstep we allow high level of flux density and the level of current density in the conductors exceeds the usual level for the continuous operating of the machine. These two parameters can reduce significantly the volume of the machine. However in this step, the temperatures are node checked. The second step checks the temperatures in the machine by simulating the entire cycle. So suitable models for optimization tools are carried out and are a compromise between the time computing and the required accuracy. Consequently, a magnetic model taking account of the cross saturation in the machine by using the nodal network method has been carried out ; efficient iron losses model in the flux weakening operation has been carried out and thermal model using too the nodal network method has been carried out. The thermal model is the main point for the sizing strategy so, a particular attention is needed. This model takes account of the flux directions in 3d and provides a good estimation of the temperatures in the actuator particularly in the heat zones as the slots and the end-windings. These results are checked by experimental tests realized in IFPEn on a special machine where thermocouples are implanted inside. We validated the thermal behavior in temperatures stabilized operation and in transitory temperatures operation. Next, these models have been implemented in multi-physics modeling for the optimization tool and for simulation tool. A study case has been introduced for a Kangoo hybrid vehicle where the electrical machine has to operate on each operating points of the Artemis cycle. With the results of the sizing strategy, we canconclude that for a working on cycle, le external volume of the magnetic parts of the machine can be reduce of 40 % compared with a sizing established by the usual rules in stabilized temperature operation. Furthermore, the volume reduction of the iron in the machine induces a reduction of the iron losses and we can conclude that the mean efficiency during the cycle stays good.

Solid state physics comprises many interesting physical phenomena driven by the complex interplay of the crystal structure, magnetic and orbital degrees of freedom, quantum fluctuations and correlation. The discovery of materials which exhibit exotic phenomena like low dimensional magnetism, superconductivity, thermoelectricity or multiferroic behavior leads to various applications which even directly influence our daily live. For such technical applications and the purposive modification of materials, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms in solids is a precondition. Nowadays DFT based band structure programs become broadly available with the possibility to calculate systems with several hundreds of atoms in reasonable time scales and high accuracy using standard computers due to the rapid technical and conceptional development in the last decades. These improvements allow to study physical properties of solids from their crystal structure and support the search for underlying mechanisms of different phenomena from microscopic grounds. This thesis focuses on the theoretical description of low dimensional magnets and intermetallic compounds. We combine DFT based electronic structure and model calculations to develop the magnetic properties of the compounds from microscopic grounds. The developed, intuitive pictures were challenged by model simulations with various experiments, probing microscopic and macroscopic properties, such as thermodynamic measurements, high field magnetization, nuclear magnetic resonance or electron spin resonance experiments. This combined approach allows to investigate the close interplay of the crystal structure and the magnetic properties of complex materials in close collaboration with experimentalists. In turn, the systematic variation of intrinsic parameters by substitution or of extrinsic factors, like magnetic field, temperature or pressure is an efficient way to probe the derived models. Especially pressure allows a continuous change of the crystal structure on a rather large energy scale without the chemical complexity of substitution, thus being an ideal tool to consistently alter the electronic structure in a controlled way. Our theoretical results not only provide reliable descriptions of real materials, exhibiting disorder, partial site occupation and/or strong correlations, but also predict fascinating phenomena upon extreme conditions. In parts this theoretical predictions were already confirmed by own experiments on large scale facilities. Whereas in the first part of this work the main purpose was to develop reliable magnetic models of low dimensional magnets, in the second part we unraveled the underlying mechanism for different phase transitions upon pressure. In more detail, the first part of this thesis is focused on the magnetic ground states of spin 1/2 transition metal compounds which show fascinating phase diagrams with many unusual ground states, including various types of magnetic order, like helical states exhibiting different pitch angles, driven by the intimate interplay of structural details and quantum fluctuations. The exact arrangement and the connection of the magnetically active building blocks within these materials determine the hybridization, orbital occupation, and orbital orientation, this way altering the exchange paths and strengths of magnetic interaction within the system and consequently being crucial for the formation of the respective ground states. The spin 1/2 transition metal compounds, which have been investigated in this work, illustrate the great variety of exciting phenomena fueling the huge interest in this class of materials. We focused on cuprates with magnetically active CuO4 plaquettes, mainly arranged into edge sharing geometries. The influence of structural peculiarities, as distortion, folding, changed bonding angles, substitution or exchanged ligands has been studied with respect to their relevance for the magnetic ground state. Besides the detailed description of the magnetic ground states of selected compounds, we attempted to unravel the origin for the formation of a particular magnetic ground state by deriving general trends and relations for this class of compounds. The details of the treatment of the correlation and influence of structural peculiarities like distortion or the bond angles are evaluated carefully. In the second part of this work we presented the results of joint theoretical and experimental studies for intermetallic compounds, all exhibiting an isostructural phase transition upon pressure. Many different driving forces for such phase transitions are known like quantum fluctuations, valence instabilities or magnetic ordering. The combination of extensive computational studies and high pressure XRD, XAS and XMCD experiments using synchrotron radiation reveals completely different underlying mechanism for the onset of the phase transitions in YCo5, SrFe2As2 and EuPd3Bx. This thesis demonstrates on a series of complex compounds that the combination of ab-initio electronic structure calculations with numerical simulations and with various experimental techniques is an extremely powerful tool for a successful description of the intriguing quantum phenomena in solids. This approach is able to reduce the complex behavior of real materials to simple but appropriate models, this way providing a deep understanding for the underlying mechanisms and an intuitive picture for many phenomena. In addition, the close interaction of theory and experiment stimulates the improvement and refinement of the methods in both areas, pioneering the grounds for more and more precise descriptions. Further pushing the limits of these mighty techniques will not only be a precondition for the success of fundamental research at the frontier between physics and chemistry, but also enables an advanced material design on computational grounds.

In the vast realm of inorganic materials, the Cu2+-containing cuprates form one of the richest classes. Due to the combined effect of crystal-field, covalency and strong correlations, all undoped cuprates are magnetic insulators with well-localized spins S=1/2, whereas the charge and orbital degrees of freedom are frozen out. The combination of the spin-only nature of their magnetism with the unique structural diversity renders cuprates as excellent model systems. The experimental studies, boosted by the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in doped La2CuO4, revealed a fascinating variety of magnetic behaviors observed in cuprates. A digest of prominent examples should include the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO3, the Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons in BaCuSi2O6, and the quantum critical behavior of Li2ZrCuO4. The magnetism of cuprates originates from short-range (typically, well below 1 nm) exchange interactions between pairs of spins Si and Sj, localized on Cu atoms i and j. Especially in low-dimensional compounds, these interactions are strongly anisotropic: even for similar interatomic distances |Rij|, the respective magnetic couplings Jij can vary by several orders of magnitude. On the other hand, there is an empirical evidence for the isotropic nature of this interaction in the spin space: different components of Si are coupled equally strong. Thus, the magnetism of cuprates is mostly described by a Heisenberg model, comprised of Jij(Si*Sj) terms. Although the applicability of this approach to cuprates is settled, the model parameters Jij are specific to a certain material, or more precisely, to a particular arrangement of the constituent atoms, i.e. the crystal structure. Typically, among the infinite number of Jij terms, only several are physically relevant. These leading exchange couplings constitute the (minimal) microscopic magnetic model. Already at the early stages of real material studies, it became gradually evident that the assignment of model parameters is a highly nontrivial task. In general, the problem can be solved experimentally, using elaborate measurements, such as inelastic neutron scattering on large single crystals, yielding the magnetic excitation spectrum. The measured dispersion is fitted using theoretical models, and in this way, the model parameters are refined. Despite excellent accuracy of this method, the measurements require high-quality samples and can be carried out only at special large-scale facilities. Therefore, less demanding (especially, regarding the sample requirements), yet reliable and accurate procedures are desirable. An alternative way to conjecture a magnetic model is the empirical approach, which typically relies on the Goodenough-Kanamori rules. This approach links the magnetic exchange couplings to the relevant structural parameters, such as bond angles. Despite the unbeatable performance of this approach, it is not universally applicable. Moreover, in certain cases the resulting tentative models are erroneous. The recent developments of computational facilities and techniques, especially for strongly correlated systems, turned density-functional theory (DFT) band structure calculations into an appealing alternative, complementary to the experiment. At present, the state-of-the-art computational methods yield accurate numerical estimates for the leading microscopic exchange couplings Jij (error bars typically do not exceed 10-15%). Although this computational approach is often regarded as ab initio, the actual procedure is not parameter-free. Moreover, the numerical results are dependent on the parameterization of the exchange and correlation potential, the type of the double-counting correction, the Hubbard repulsion U etc., thus an accurate choice of these crucial parameters is a prerequisite. In this work, the optimal parameters for cuprates are carefully evaluated based on extensive band structure calculations and subsequent model simulations. Considering the diversity of crystal structures, and consequently, magnetic behaviors, the evaluation of a microscopic model should be carried out in a systematic way. To this end, a multi-step computational approach is developed. The starting point of this procedure is a consideration of the experimental structural data, used as an input for DFT calculations. Next, a minimal DFT-based microscopic magnetic model is evaluated. This part of the study comprises band structure calculations, the analysis of the relevant bands, supercell calculations, and finally, the evaluation of a microscopic magnetic model. The ground state and the magnetic excitation spectrum of the evaluated model are analyzed using various simulation techniques, such as quantum Monte Carlo, exact diagonalization and density-matrix renormalization groups, while the choice of a particular technique is governed by the dimensionality of the model, and the presence or absence of magnetic frustration. To illustrate the performance of the approach and tune the free parameters, the computational scheme is applied to cuprates featuring rather simple, yet diverse magnetic behaviors: spin chains in CuSe2O5, [NO]Cu(NO3)3, and CaCu2(SeO3)2Cl2; quasi-two-dimensional lattices with dimer-like couplings in alpha-Cu2P2O7 and CdCu2(BO3)2, as well as the 3D magnetic model with pronounced 1D correlations in Cu6Si6O18*6H2O. Finally, the approach is applied to spin liquid candidates --- intricate materials featuring kagome-lattice arrangement of the constituent spins. Based on the DFT calculations, microscopic magnetic models are evaluated for herbertsmithite Cu3(Zn0.85Cu0.15)(OH)6Cl2, kapellasite Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2 and haydeeite Cu3Mg(OH)6Cl2, as well as for volborthite Cu3[V2O7](OH)2*2H2O. The results of the DFT calculations and model simulations are compared to and challenged with the available experimental data. The advantages of the developed approach should be briefly discussed. First, it allows to distinguish between different microscopic models that yield similar macroscopic behavior. One of the most remarkable example is volborthite Cu3[V2O7](OH)2*2H2O, initially described as an anisotropic kagome lattice. The DFT calculations reveal that this compound features strongly coupled frustrated spin chains, thus a completely different type of magnetic frustration is realized. Second, the developed approach is capable of providing accurate estimates for the leading magnetic couplings, and consequently, reliably parameterize the microscopic Hamiltonian. Dioptase Cu6Si6O18*6H2O is an instructive example showing that the microscopic theoretical approach eliminates possible ambiguity and reliably yields the correct parameterization. Third, DFT calculations yield even better accuracy for the ratios of magnetic exchange couplings. This holds also for small interchain or interplane couplings that can be substantially smaller than the leading exchange. Hence, band structure calculations provide a unique possibility to address the interchain or interplane coupling regime, essential for the magnetic ground state, but hardly perceptible in the experiment due to the different energy scales. Finally, an important advantage specific to magnetically frustrated systems should be mentioned. Numerous theoretical and numerical studies evidence that low-dimensionality and frustration effects are typically entwined, and their disentanglement in the experiment is at best challenging. In contrast, the computational procedure allows to distinguish between these two effects, as demonstrated by studying the long-range magnetic ordering transition in quasi-1D spin chain systems. The computational approach presented in the thesis is a powerful tool that can be directly applied to numerous S=1/2 Heisenberg materials. Moreover, with minor modifications, it can be largely extended to other metallates with higher value of spin. Besides the excellent performance of the computational approach, its relevance should be underscored: for all the systems investigated in this work, the DFT-based studies not only reproduced the experimental data, but instead delivered new valuable information on the magnetic properties for each particular compound. Beyond any doubt, further computational studies will yield new surprising results for known as well as for new, yet unexplored compounds. Such "surprising" outcomes can involve the ferromagnetic nature of the couplings that were previously considered antiferromagnetic, unexpected long-range couplings, or the subtle balance of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic contributions that "switches off" the respective magnetic exchange. In this way, dozens of potentially interesting systems can acquire quantitative microscopic magnetic models. The results of this work evidence that elaborate experimental methods and the DFT-based modeling are of comparable reliability and complement each other. In this way, the advantageous combination of theory and experiment can largely advance the research in the field of low-dimensional quantum magnetism. For practical applications, the excellent predictive power of the computational approach can largely alleviate designing materials with specific properties.

In the vast realm of inorganic materials, the Cu2+-containing cuprates form one of the richest classes. Due to the combined effect of crystal-field, covalency and strong correlations, all undoped cuprates are magnetic insulators with well-localized spins S=1/2, whereas the charge and orbital degrees of freedom are frozen out. The combination of the spin-only nature of their magnetism with the unique structural diversity renders cuprates as excellent model systems. The experimental studies, boosted by the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in doped La2CuO4, revealed a fascinating variety of magnetic behaviors observed in cuprates. A digest of prominent examples should include the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO3, the Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons in BaCuSi2O6, and the quantum critical behavior of Li2ZrCuO4. The magnetism of cuprates originates from short-range (typically, well below 1 nm) exchange interactions between pairs of spins Si and Sj, localized on Cu atoms i and j. Especially in low-dimensional compounds, these interactions are strongly anisotropic: even for similar interatomic distances |Rij|, the respective magnetic couplings Jij can vary by several orders of magnitude. On the other hand, there is an empirical evidence for the isotropic nature of this interaction in the spin space: different components of Si are coupled equally strong. Thus, the magnetism of cuprates is mostly described by a Heisenberg model, comprised of Jij(Si*Sj) terms. Although the applicability of this approach to cuprates is settled, the model parameters Jij are specific to a certain material, or more precisely, to a particular arrangement of the constituent atoms, i.e. the crystal structure. Typically, among the infinite number of Jij terms, only several are physically relevant. These leading exchange couplings constitute the (minimal) microscopic magnetic model. Already at the early stages of real material studies, it became gradually evident that the assignment of model parameters is a highly nontrivial task. In general, the problem can be solved experimentally, using elaborate measurements, such as inelastic neutron scattering on large single crystals, yielding the magnetic excitation spectrum. The measured dispersion is fitted using theoretical models, and in this way, the model parameters are refined. Despite excellent accuracy of this method, the measurements require high-quality samples and can be carried out only at special large-scale facilities. Therefore, less demanding (especially, regarding the sample requirements), yet reliable and accurate procedures are desirable. An alternative way to conjecture a magnetic model is the empirical approach, which typically relies on the Goodenough-Kanamori rules. This approach links the magnetic exchange couplings to the relevant structural parameters, such as bond angles. Despite the unbeatable performance of this approach, it is not universally applicable. Moreover, in certain cases the resulting tentative models are erroneous. The recent developments of computational facilities and techniques, especially for strongly correlated systems, turned density-functional theory (DFT) band structure calculations into an appealing alternative, complementary to the experiment. At present, the state-of-the-art computational methods yield accurate numerical estimates for the leading microscopic exchange couplings Jij (error bars typically do not exceed 10-15%). Although this computational approach is often regarded as ab initio, the actual procedure is not parameter-free. Moreover, the numerical results are dependent on the parameterization of the exchange and correlation potential, the type of the double-counting correction, the Hubbard repulsion U etc., thus an accurate choice of these crucial parameters is a prerequisite. In this work, the optimal parameters for cuprates are carefully evaluated based on extensive band structure calculations and subsequent model simulations. Considering the diversity of crystal structures, and consequently, magnetic behaviors, the evaluation of a microscopic model should be carried out in a systematic way. To this end, a multi-step computational approach is developed. The starting point of this procedure is a consideration of the experimental structural data, used as an input for DFT calculations. Next, a minimal DFT-based microscopic magnetic model is evaluated. This part of the study comprises band structure calculations, the analysis of the relevant bands, supercell calculations, and finally, the evaluation of a microscopic magnetic model. The ground state and the magnetic excitation spectrum of the evaluated model are analyzed using various simulation techniques, such as quantum Monte Carlo, exact diagonalization and density-matrix renormalization groups, while the choice of a particular technique is governed by the dimensionality of the model, and the presence or absence of magnetic frustration. To illustrate the performance of the approach and tune the free parameters, the computational scheme is applied to cuprates featuring rather simple, yet diverse magnetic behaviors: spin chains in CuSe2O5, [NO]Cu(NO3)3, and CaCu2(SeO3)2Cl2; quasi-two-dimensional lattices with dimer-like couplings in alpha-Cu2P2O7 and CdCu2(BO3)2, as well as the 3D magnetic model with pronounced 1D correlations in Cu6Si6O18*6H2O. Finally, the approach is applied to spin liquid candidates --- intricate materials featuring kagome-lattice arrangement of the constituent spins. Based on the DFT calculations, microscopic magnetic models are evaluated for herbertsmithite Cu3(Zn0.85Cu0.15)(OH)6Cl2, kapellasite Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2 and haydeeite Cu3Mg(OH)6Cl2, as well as for volborthite Cu3[V2O7](OH)2*2H2O. The results of the DFT calculations and model simulations are compared to and challenged with the available experimental data. The advantages of the developed approach should be briefly discussed. First, it allows to distinguish between different microscopic models that yield similar macroscopic behavior. One of the most remarkable example is volborthite Cu3[V2O7](OH)2*2H2O, initially described as an anisotropic kagome lattice. The DFT calculations reveal that this compound features strongly coupled frustrated spin chains, thus a completely different type of magnetic frustration is realized. Second, the developed approach is capable of providing accurate estimates for the leading magnetic couplings, and consequently, reliably parameterize the microscopic Hamiltonian. Dioptase Cu6Si6O18*6H2O is an instructive example showing that the microscopic theoretical approach eliminates possible ambiguity and reliably yields the correct parameterization. Third, DFT calculations yield even better accuracy for the ratios of magnetic exchange couplings. This holds also for small interchain or interplane couplings that can be substantially smaller than the leading exchange. Hence, band structure calculations provide a unique possibility to address the interchain or interplane coupling regime, essential for the magnetic ground state, but hardly perceptible in the experiment due to the different energy scales. Finally, an important advantage specific to magnetically frustrated systems should be mentioned. Numerous theoretical and numerical studies evidence that low-dimensionality and frustration effects are typically entwined, and their disentanglement in the experiment is at best challenging. In contrast, the computational procedure allows to distinguish between these two effects, as demonstrated by studying the long-range magnetic ordering transition in quasi-1D spin chain systems. The computational approach presented in the thesis is a powerful tool that can be directly applied to numerous S=1/2 Heisenberg materials. Moreover, with minor modifications, it can be largely extended to other metallates with higher value of spin. Besides the excellent performance of the computational approach, its relevance should be underscored: for all the systems investigated in this work, the DFT-based studies not only reproduced the experimental data, but instead delivered new valuable information on the magnetic properties for each particular compound. Beyond any doubt, further computational studies will yield new surprising results for known as well as for new, yet unexplored compounds. Such "surprising" outcomes can involve the ferromagnetic nature of the couplings that were previously considered antiferromagnetic, unexpected long-range couplings, or the subtle balance of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic contributions that "switches off" the respective magnetic exchange. In this way, dozens of potentially interesting systems can acquire quantitative microscopic magnetic models. The results of this work evidence that elaborate experimental methods and the DFT-based modeling are of comparable reliability and complement each other. In this way, the advantageous combination of theory and experiment can largely advance the research in the field of low-dimensional quantum magnetism. For practical applications, the excellent predictive power of the computational approach can largely alleviate designing materials with specific properties.:List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Magnetism of cuprates 3. Experimental methods 4. DFT-based microscopic modeling 5. Simulations of a magnetic model 6. Model spin systems: challenging the computational approach 7. Kagome lattice compounds 8. Summary and outlook Appendix Bibliography List of publications Acknowledgments

Solid state physics comprises many interesting physical phenomena driven by the complex interplay of the crystal structure, magnetic and orbital degrees of freedom, quantum fluctuations and correlation. The discovery of materials which exhibit exotic phenomena like low dimensional magnetism, superconductivity, thermoelectricity or multiferroic behavior leads to various applications which even directly influence our daily live. For such technical applications and the purposive modification of materials, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms in solids is a precondition. Nowadays DFT based band structure programs become broadly available with the possibility to calculate systems with several hundreds of atoms in reasonable time scales and high accuracy using standard computers due to the rapid technical and conceptional development in the last decades. These improvements allow to study physical properties of solids from their crystal structure and support the search for underlying mechanisms of different phenomena from microscopic grounds. This thesis focuses on the theoretical description of low dimensional magnets and intermetallic compounds. We combine DFT based electronic structure and model calculations to develop the magnetic properties of the compounds from microscopic grounds. The developed, intuitive pictures were challenged by model simulations with various experiments, probing microscopic and macroscopic properties, such as thermodynamic measurements, high field magnetization, nuclear magnetic resonance or electron spin resonance experiments. This combined approach allows to investigate the close interplay of the crystal structure and the magnetic properties of complex materials in close collaboration with experimentalists. In turn, the systematic variation of intrinsic parameters by substitution or of extrinsic factors, like magnetic field, temperature or pressure is an efficient way to probe the derived models. Especially pressure allows a continuous change of the crystal structure on a rather large energy scale without the chemical complexity of substitution, thus being an ideal tool to consistently alter the electronic structure in a controlled way. Our theoretical results not only provide reliable descriptions of real materials, exhibiting disorder, partial site occupation and/or strong correlations, but also predict fascinating phenomena upon extreme conditions. In parts this theoretical predictions were already confirmed by own experiments on large scale facilities. Whereas in the first part of this work the main purpose was to develop reliable magnetic models of low dimensional magnets, in the second part we unraveled the underlying mechanism for different phase transitions upon pressure. In more detail, the first part of this thesis is focused on the magnetic ground states of spin 1/2 transition metal compounds which show fascinating phase diagrams with many unusual ground states, including various types of magnetic order, like helical states exhibiting different pitch angles, driven by the intimate interplay of structural details and quantum fluctuations. The exact arrangement and the connection of the magnetically active building blocks within these materials determine the hybridization, orbital occupation, and orbital orientation, this way altering the exchange paths and strengths of magnetic interaction within the system and consequently being crucial for the formation of the respective ground states. The spin 1/2 transition metal compounds, which have been investigated in this work, illustrate the great variety of exciting phenomena fueling the huge interest in this class of materials. We focused on cuprates with magnetically active CuO4 plaquettes, mainly arranged into edge sharing geometries. The influence of structural peculiarities, as distortion, folding, changed bonding angles, substitution or exchanged ligands has been studied with respect to their relevance for the magnetic ground state. Besides the detailed description of the magnetic ground states of selected compounds, we attempted to unravel the origin for the formation of a particular magnetic ground state by deriving general trends and relations for this class of compounds. The details of the treatment of the correlation and influence of structural peculiarities like distortion or the bond angles are evaluated carefully. In the second part of this work we presented the results of joint theoretical and experimental studies for intermetallic compounds, all exhibiting an isostructural phase transition upon pressure. Many different driving forces for such phase transitions are known like quantum fluctuations, valence instabilities or magnetic ordering. The combination of extensive computational studies and high pressure XRD, XAS and XMCD experiments using synchrotron radiation reveals completely different underlying mechanism for the onset of the phase transitions in YCo5, SrFe2As2 and EuPd3Bx. This thesis demonstrates on a series of complex compounds that the combination of ab-initio electronic structure calculations with numerical simulations and with various experimental techniques is an extremely powerful tool for a successful description of the intriguing quantum phenomena in solids. This approach is able to reduce the complex behavior of real materials to simple but appropriate models, this way providing a deep understanding for the underlying mechanisms and an intuitive picture for many phenomena. In addition, the close interaction of theory and experiment stimulates the improvement and refinement of the methods in both areas, pioneering the grounds for more and more precise descriptions. Further pushing the limits of these mighty techniques will not only be a precondition for the success of fundamental research at the frontier between physics and chemistry, but also enables an advanced material design on computational grounds.:Contents List of abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Methods 2.1. Electronic structure and magnetic models for real compounds 2.1.1. Describing a solid 2.1.2. Basic exchange and correlation functionals 2.1.3. Strong correlations 2.1.4. Band structure codes 2.1.5. Disorder and vacancies 2.1.6. Models on top of DFT 2.2. X-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption at extreme conditions 2.2.1. Diamond anvil cells 2.2.2. ID09 - XRD under pressure 2.2.3. ID24 - XAS and XMCD under pressure 3. Low dimensional magnets 3.1. Materials 3.1.1 AgCuVO4 - a model compound between two archetypes of Cu-O chains 3.1.2 Li2ZrCuO4 - in close vicinity to a quantum critical point 3.1.3 PbCuSO4(OH)2 -magnetic exchange ruled by H 3.1.4 CuCl2 and CuBr2 - flipping magnetic orbitals by crystal water 3.1.5 Na3Cu2SbO6 and Na2Cu2TeO6 - alternating chain systems 3.1.6 Cu2(PO3)2CH2 - magnetic vs. structural dimers 3.1.7 Cu2PO4OH - orbital order between dimers and chains 3.1.8 A2CuEO6 - an new family of spin 1/2 square lattice compounds 3.2. General trends and relations 3.2.1. Approximation for the treatment of strong correlation 3.2.2. Structural elements 4. Magnetic intermetallic compounds under extreme conditions 115 4.1. Itinerant magnets 4.1.1. YCo5 - a direct proof for a magneto elastic transition by XMCD 4.1.2. SrFe2As2 - symmetry-preserving lattice collapse 4.2. Localized magnets 4.2.1. EuPd3Bx - valence transition under doping and pressure 5. Summary and outlook A. Technical details B. Crystal Structures C. Supporting Material Bibliography List of Publications Acknowledgments