Valence bond ground states in a frustrated two-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We study a class of two-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets, introduced by Klein [1], in which the nearest-neighbor term is supplemented by next-nearest-neighbor pair and four-body interactions, producing additional frustration. For certain lattices, including e.g. the hexagonal lattice, we prove that any finite subset which admits a dimer covering has a ground state space spanned by valence bond states, each of which consists only of nearest-neighbor (dimer) singlet pairs. We also establish linear independence of these valence bond states. The possible relevance to resonating-valence-bond theories of high-temperature superconductors is briefly discussed. In particular, our results apply both to regular subsets of the lattice and to subsets with static holes.Work supported in part by N.S.F. Postdoctoral Research FellowshipsWork supported by N.S.F. Grant No. DMR-83-18051     

Persistence of magnons in a site-diluted dimerized frustrated antiferromagnet

We present inelastic neutron scattering and thermodynamic measurements characterizing the magnetic excitations in a disordered spin-liquid antiferromagnet with non-magnetic substitution. The parent compound Ba(3)Mn(2)O(8) is a dimerized, quasi-two-dimensional geometrically frustrated quantum disordered antiferromagnet. We substitute this compound with non-magnetic V(5+) for the S=1 Mn(5+) ions, Ba(3)(Mn(1-x)V (x))(2)O(8), and find that the singlet-triplet excitations which dominate the spectrum of the parent compound persist for the full range of substitution examined, up to x=0.3. We also observe additional low-energy magnetic fluctuations which are enhanced at the greatest substitution values.     

Investigation of frustrated and dimerized classical Heisenberg chains

We have considered the 1D dimerized frustrated antiferromagnetic (ferromagnetic) Heisenberg model with arbitrary spin S$S$. The exact classical magnetic phase diagram at zero temperature is determined using the LK cluster method. The cluster method results show that the classical ground-state phase diagram of the model is very rich, including first-order and second-order phase transitions. In the absence of dimerization, a second-order phase transition occurs between antiferromagnetic (ferromagnetic) and spiral phases at the critical frustration _αc=±0.25${\alpha }_c=\pm 0.25$, a well-known result. In the vicinity of the critical points _αc${\alpha }_c$, the exact classical critical exponent of the spiral order parameter is found to be 1/2$1/2$. In the case of a dimerized chain (δ≠0$\delta \ne 0$), the spiral order shows stability and exists in some part of the ground-state phase diagram. We have found two first-order phase boundaries separating antiferromagnetic (uud and duu) phases from the spiral phase.     

Chiral Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in the frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a pyrochlore slab

Ordering of the geometrically frustrated two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a pyrochlore slab is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. In contrast to the kagomé Heisenberg antiferromagnet, the model exhibits locally noncoplanar spin structures at low temperatures, bearing nontrivial chiral degrees of freedom. Under certain conditions, the model exhibits a novel Kosterlitz-Thouless-type transition at a finite temperature associated with these chiral degrees of freedom.     

Quantum versus geometric disorder in a two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We present a numerical study of the spin-1/2 bilayer Heisenberg antiferromagnet with random interlayer dimer dilution. From the temperature dependence of the uniform susceptibility and a scaling analysis of the spin correlation length we deduce the ground state phase diagram as a function of nonmagnetic impurity concentration p and bilayer coupling g. At the site percolation threshold, there exists a multicritical point at small but nonzero bilayer coupling g(m)=0.15(3). The magnetic properties of the single-layer material La(2)Cu(1-p)(Zn,Mg)(p)O4 near the percolation threshold appear to be controlled by the proximity to this new quantum critical point.     

Bond operator theory for the frustrated anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a square lattice

The quantum anisotropic antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with single ion anisotropy, spin S=1 and up to the next-next-nearest neighbor coupling (the J₁–J₂–J₃ model) on a square lattice, is studied using the bond-operator formalism in a mean field approximation. The quantum phase transitions at zero temperature are obtained. The model features a complex T=0 phase diagram, whose ordering vector is subject to quantum corrections with respect to the classical limit. The phase diagram shows a quantum paramagnetic phase situated among Neél, spiral and collinear states.     

Antiferromagnetic spin-S chains with exactly dimerized ground states

We show that spin S Heisenberg spin chains with an additional three-body interaction of the form (S(i-1)·S(i))(S(i)·S(i+1))+H.c. possess fully dimerized ground states if the ratio of the three-body interaction to the bilinear one is equal to 1/[4S(S+1)-2]. This result generalizes the Majumdar-Ghosh point of the J1-J2 chain, to which the present model reduces for S=1/2. For S=1, we use the density matrix renormalization group method to show that the transition between the Haldane and the dimerized phases is continuous with a central charge c=3/2. Finally, we show that such a three-body interaction appears naturally in a strong-coupling expansion of the Hubbard model, and we discuss the consequences for the dimerization of actual antiferromagnetic chains.     

Disordered and ordered states in a frustrated Heisenberg Hamiltonian with spatial anisotropy

We use a recently proposed perturbative numerical renormalization group algorithm to investigate ground-state properties of a frustrated three-dimensional Heisenberg model on an anisotropic lattice. We analyze the ground-state energy, the finite size spin gap and the static magnetic structure factor. We find in two dimensions a frustration-induced gapless spin liquid state which separates two magnetically ordered phases. In the spin liquid state, the magnetic structure factor shows evidence that this state is made of nearly disconnected chains reminiscent of a sliding Luttinger liquid. This spin liquid state is unstable against unfrustrated interplane couplings.     

The frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice: J1-J2 model

We study the ground-state phase diagram of the frustrated spin-[Formula: see text] antiferromagnet with J(2) = xJ(1) > 0 (J(1) > 0) on the honeycomb lattice, using the coupled-cluster method. We present results for the ground-state energy, magnetic order parameter and plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) susceptibility. We find a paramagnetic PVBC phase for x(c(1)) < x < x(c(2)), where x(c(1)) ≈ 0.207 ± 0.003 and x(c(2)) ≈ 0.385 ± 0.010. The transition at x(c(1)) to the Néel phase seems to be a continuous deconfined transition (although we cannot exclude a very narrow intermediate phase in the range 0.21 ? x ? 0.24), while that at x(c(2)) is of first-order type to another quasiclassical antiferromagnetic phase that occurs in the classical version of the model only at the isolated and highly degenerate critical point [Formula: see text]. The spiral phases that are present classically for all values x > 1/6 are absent for all x ? 1.