First excitations of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice

We study the exact low energy spectra of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on small samples of the kagomé lattice of up to N=36 sites. In agreement with the conclusions of previous authors, we find that these low energy spectra contradict the hypothesis of Néel type long range order. Certainly, the ground state of this system is a spin liquid, but its properties are rather unusual. The magnetic () excitations are separated from the ground state by a gap. However, this gap is filled with nonmagnetic () excitations. In the thermodynamic limit the spectrum of these nonmagnetic excitations will presumably develop into a gapless continuum adjacent to the ground state. Surprisingly, the eigenstates of samples with an odd number of sites, i.e. samples with an unsaturated spin, exhibit symmetries which could support long range chiral order. We do not know if these states will be true thermodynamic states or only metastable ones. In any case, the low energy properties of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice clearly distinguish this system from either a short range RVB spin liquid or a standard chiral spin liquid. Presumably they are facets of a generically new state of frustrated two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets. Received: 27 November 1997 / Accepted: 29 January 1998     

Quantum anisotropic Heisenberg triangular antiferromagnet: application to CsCuCl3

Triangular anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnet shares with the triangular planar antiferromagnet the rich phenomenology found in presence of an external magnetic field. The physical interest in the triangular Heisenberg model is obvious because the planar model has not the quantum analogous one and, more seriously, it does not allow out-of-plane fluctuations so that it provides a very rough representation of actual magnetic insulators. Indeed, we show that magnetic resonance data on CsCuCl₃ are satisfactorily understood on the basis of the properties of the quantum triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet with easy-plane exchange anisotropy.     

Crystal field analysis of energy level structure of the Cr2O3 antiferromagnet

A detailed analysis of the energy level structure of the six-fold coordinated Cr³⁺ ion in the chromium oxide Cr₂O₃ is performed using the exchange charge model of the crystal field theory. Parameters of the crystal field acting on the Cr³⁺ optical electrons are calculated from the crystal structure data for the [CrO₆]⁹⁻ impurity center. The energy levels obtained are compared with the experimental absorption spectra for the considered crystal; a good agreement with experimental data is demonstrated. One possible explanation for the ultraviolet p₁ absorption band is proposed based on the results of crystal field calculations.     

Effect of interchain coupling on spin correlation functions of spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet CsNiCl3

The inelastic neutron-scattering experiment on CsNiCl₃ gives much bigger total intensity of multi-particle continuum than the theoretical calculation by the (1+1$1+1$)-dimensional O(3) non-linear σ-model. Three-dimensional effect has to be considered. A scenario was proposed where the interchain interaction is treated as an effective staggered magnetic field. We propose another model to approximately include the effect of the interchain coupling, and use the large-N expansion to do the calculations. In this circumstance we find that the Néel temperature is about 5 K, and also that for a range of wave-vectors the single magnon is unstable and will decay into three magnons.     

Thermodynamics of the spin-S antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain

The numerical solution of the Bethe ansatz equations of an integrableSU (2)-invariant generalization of the spin-S antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain in zero magnetic field is presented. The thermodynamics is obtained numerically. The temperature dependence of the entropy, specific heat and susceptibility is presented forS5/2. The results are compared to those of then-channel Kondo problem with a spin-S impurity withn=2S.     

Phase diagram and magnetic structures of the two-level singlet antiferromagnet Ho2O2SO4

The orthorhombic holmium oxisulphate orders as a two-sublattice antiferromagnet atT=3.5 K. In external fields along the crystallographica- andc-directions with large and medium-sized magnetic moment, respectively, a ferrimagnetic phase with 1/3 of the saturation magnetization is passed before the paramagnetic phase is reached. Calculations in mean-field theory reveal that for thec-direction the ferrimagnetic phase is not stable atT=0, it only exists for finite temperatures. Magnetization and susceptibility contain large contributions of van Vleck paramagnetism which at any rate have to be taken into consideration. The phase diagram for the two field directions and the magnetic structures of the different phases are established.     

Spin correlations in the two-dimensional spin-5/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We report a neutron scattering study of the instantaneous spin correlations in the two-dimensional spin S =5/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Rb₂MnF₄. The measured correlation lengths are quantitatively described, with no adjustable parameters, by high-temperature series expansion results and by a theory based on the quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation. Conversely, we find that the data, which cover the range from about 1 to 50 lattice constants, are outside of the regime corresponding to renormalized classical behavior of the quantum non-linear model. In addition, we observe a crossover from Heisenberg to Ising critical behavior near the Néel temperature; this crossover is well described by a mean-field model with no adjustable parameters. Received: 3 March 1998 / Received in final form: 4 May 1998 / Accepted: 19 May 1998     

On the ground state of the half-filled Hubbard model

We calculate the ground state of the half-filled Hubbard model and its energy by starting from a spindensity wave approximation and improving it by incorporating transverse spin fluctuations. The calculations are done by employing a projection method. The quality of the proposed approximation is particularly high for intermediate and large Coulomb repulsionU, where it exceeds considerably e.g. that of the Gutzwiller projected spin-density wave state. To ordert ²/U (wheret is the hopping matrix element), our approximation is shown to be equivalent to a recent Coupled Cluster calculation for the Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Finally we show how to ordert ²/U the linear spin-wave approximation for the Heisenberg antiferromagnet may be obtained.     

Magnetic phase diagram of the four-sublattice antiferromagnet Tb2O2SO4 for a particular field direction

Tb₂O₂SO₄ orders antiferromagnetically at 3.9 K in a four-sublattice structure with two of the nearest-neighbour moments antiparallel and two almost perpendicular to that of a central ion. Specific-heat and magnetization measurements were carried out and allowed to establish the phase diagram for the external magnetic field along one of the moments' direction. Starting at the Néel temperature, the boundary of the paramagnetic phase is first shifted to lower temperatures for increasing field and then it stays at constant temperature for further increase of field. The shift is caused by the reduction of the staggered field that is existing in the antiferromagnetic phase. The experimental results are corroberated to a large extent by mean-field calculations.     

Periodic entanglement of magnons in an antiferromagnet

The dynamics of entanglement for two-mode magnons in an antiferromagnet is investigated according to the entanglement criterion proposed by Duan et al. [L.M. Duan, G. Giedke, J.I. Cirac, P. Zoller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000) 2722]. It is shown that entanglement between the two modes of magnons can be generated and occurs periodically with time.     

Magnon-mediated binding between holes in an antiferromagnet

The long-range forces between holes in an antiferromagnet are due to magnon exchange. The one-magnon exchange potential between two holes is proportional to cos(2 ϕ)/r ² where r is the distance vector of the holes and ϕ is the angle between r and an axis of the square crystal lattice. One-magnon exchange leads to bound states of holes with antiparallel spins resembling d-wave symmetry.     

Neutron scattering study of the two-dimensional spinS=1/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Sr2CuO2Cl2

We have carried out a neutron scattering investigation of the static structure factorS(q _2D ) (q _2D is the in-plane wave vector) in the two-dimensional spinS=1/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂. For the spin correlation length we find quantitative agreement with Monte Carlo results over a wide range of temperature. The combined Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂-Monte Carlo data, which cover the length scale from 1 to 200 lattice constants, are predicted without adjustable parameteres by renormalized classical theory for the quantum nonlinear sigma model. For the structure factor peakS(0), on the other hand, we findS(0) ² for the reduced temperature range 0.16<T/2 _s <0.36, whereas current theories predict that at low temperaturesS(0)T ^{2 2}. This discrepancy has important implications for the interpretation of many derivative quantities such as NMR relaxation rates. In the ordered phase, we have measured the temperature dependence of the out-of-plane spin-wave gap. Its low-temperature value of 5.0 meV corresponds to an XY anisotropyJ _XY /J=1.4×10^–4. From measurements of the sublattice mangetization we obtain =0.22±0.01 for the order parameter exponent. This may either reflect tricricality as in La₂CuO₄, or it may indicate finite-size two-dimensional XY behavior as suggested by Bramwell and Holdsworth. As in theS=1 system K₂NiF₄, the gap energy in Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂ scales linearly with the order parameter up to the Néel temperature. We also reanalyze static structure factor data for K₂NiF₄ using the exact low temperature result for the correlation length of Hasenfratz and Niedermayer and including the Ising anisotropy explicitly. Excellent agreement between experiment and theory is obtained for the correlation length, albeit with the spin-stiffness _s reduced by 20% from the spin-wave value. As in Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂ we find thatS(0) ² for the reduced temperature range 0.22<T/2 _s <0.47.     

Novel-ground-state properties of the two-dimensionalt−J model at low density

The spin, charge and pairing correlation functions for the ground state of two-dimensionalt–J model at low electronic density are calculated by using the power method which projects out the ground state from a variational wave function. The results are surprisingly similar to that of one-dimensionalt–J model. Many special features found in 1D are also observed in 2D.     

Spin dynamics and spin correlations in the spinS=1 two-dimensional square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet La2NiO4

The static and dynamic spin fluctuations in the spinS=1, two-dimensional (2D) square-lattice antiferromagnet La₂NiO₄ have been studied over a wide temperature range using neutron scattering techniques. The spin correlations in La₂NiO₄ exhibit a crossover from two- to three-dimensional (3D) behavior as the Néel temperature is approached from above. Critical slowing down of the low-energy spin fluctuations is also observed just aboveT _N . The correlation length, (T), and the static structure factor,S(0), have been measured and are compared with recent theoretical calculations for the quantum 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnet using microscopic parameters determined from previous spin-wave measurements. Good agreement for (T) is found with the exact low-temperature result of Hasenfratz and Niedermeyer provided that 2 p _s is renormalized by 20% from the spin-wave value.     

Spin-correlations and low lying excited states of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a square lattice

The ground state and the lowest excited states of the spin 1/2-Heisenberg model are investigated by exact diagonalization and variational Monte Carlo techniques. Our trial state represents a generalization of a wave function introduced by Hulthen, Kasteleijn and Marshall. The long range character of the spin-correlation function is in excellent agreement with exact diagonalization and also with recent neutron scattering results for La₂CuO₄. The asymptotic behavior of the spin-correlation function is found to differ from spin-wave theory. From the exact (N<=20 spins) and variational (N<=400) ground state energies we determine as asymptotic values 1.3025 and 1.288, respectively. We calculate the dispersion for the spin-wave excitations and identify an excited triplet which becomes degenerate with the ground state in the thermodynamic limit. This triplet state allows spontaneous symmetry breaking to occur atT=0 K. Quantum fluctuations reduce the sublattice magnetization to an effective value of 0.195 (3) as compared to the Néel-state value of 1/2.     

Sign change of the surface energy of a two-component superconductor

It is shown that the sign of the surface energy of a two-component superconductor is determined not only by the Ginzburg-Landau parameters of two superconducting components, but also by a temperature-independent parameter κξ, which is defined as the ratio of the coherence lengths of two components.     

Effects of powder flowability on the alignment degree and magnetic properties for NdFeB sintermagnets

The magnetic powders for sintered NdFeB magnets have been prepared by using the strip casting (SC), hydrogen decrepitation (HD) and jet milling (JM) techniques. The effects of powder flowability and addition of a lubricant on the alignment degree and the hard magnetic properties of sintered magnets have been studied. The results show that the main factor affecting powder flowability is the aggregation of magnetic particles for powders in a loose state, but it is the friction between the powder particles for powders that are in a compact state. The addition of a lubricant with suitable dose can slightly prevent the congregating of powders, obviously decrease the friction between the powder particles, improve the powder flowability, and increase the alignment degree, remanence and energy product density of sintered magnets. Mixing a suitable dose of lubricant and adopting rubber isostatic pressing (RIP) with a pulse magnetic field, we have succeeded in producing the sintered NdFeB magnet with high hard magnetic properties of B_r=14.57 KG, _jH_c=14.43 KOe, (BH)_max=51.3 MGOe.     

Another approach to mechanism of ferromagnetic superconductor UGe2

We study the ferromagnetic superconductor of UGe₂ applying our previous model [Phys. Rev. B 61 (2000), 4289] for the high transition temperature superconductivity (HTSC). The Coulomb interaction for triplet electron pairs is reduced by a difference of the exchange interaction. In the case of UGe₂ including other heavy fermion superconductors, coexistence of triplet superconductivity and ferromagnetism is possible in the case of our scheme. We also investigate the pressure-dependence of Curie temperature, T_c and superconducting temperature, T_sc.