Theory for spin and orbital orderings in high temperature phase in YVO₃

Motivated by the recent neutron diffraction experiment on $YVO_3$, we consider a microscopic model where each $V^{3+}$ ion is occupied by two 3d electrons of parallel spins with two fold degenerate orbital configurations. The mean field classical solutions of the spin-orbital superexchange model predicts an antiferro-orbital ordering at a higher temperature followed by a C-type antiferromagnetic spin ordering at a lower temperature. Our results are qualitatively consistent with the observed orbital phase transition at $\sim 200K$ and the spin phase transition at $\sim 114K$ in $YVO_3$.