Experimental realization of a 2D fractional quantum spin liquid

The ground-state ordering and dynamics of the two-dimensional S = 1/2 frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cs(2)CuCl(4) are explored using neutron scattering in high magnetic fields. We find that the dynamic correlations show a highly dispersive continuum of excited states, characteristic of the resonating valence bond state, arising from pairs of S = 1/2 spinons. Quantum renormalization factors for the excitation energies (1.65) and incommensuration (0.56) are large.     

Frustrated spin model as a hard-sphere liquid

We show that one-dimensional topological objects (kinks) are natural degrees of freedom for an antiferromagnetic Ising model on a triangular lattice. Its ground states and the coexistence of spin ordering with an extensive zero-temperature entropy can easily be understood in terms of kinks forming a hard-sphere liquid. Using this picture we explain effects of quantum spin dynamics on that frustrated model, which we also study numerically.     

Quantum spin liquid on 2D rectangular frustrated AF lattice

The state of a 2D rectangular spin lattice with first, second and third nearest-neighbour anisotropic antiferromagnetic interactions is investigated. In a special line of parameter space, it is proved that the quantum spin liquid is the exact eigenstate of the system. For general parameter values, Green's function method with cut-off approximation is used to determine the phase diagram at zero temperature, and it is found that the quantum spin liquid appears on a rectangular lattice when the third nearest-neighbour interaction in the direction with shorter lattice spacing is introduced. The relations to the possibility of mixture of the spin liquid and the Fermi liquid in high-T _c superconductors are discussed.     

Dynamical spin magnetic susceptibility in the 2D Hubbard model

Magnetic properties of the two-dimensional Hubbard model are investigated by studying the imaginary part of the dynamical spin magnetic susceptibility as a function of momentum and doping. The calculations are performed by means of the composite operator method in the static approximation. It is shown that the results are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental data for LaSrCuO compounds.     

Two-dimensional Heisenberg model with spin s=1/2 and antiferromagnetic exchange treated as a spin liquid

The spin system of the Heisenberg model (s=1/2) on a square lattice with antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange between nearest neighbors (in which there is no long-range magnetic order at any T≠0) is treated as a spatially homogeneous isotropic spin liquid. The double-time temperature Green’s function method is used in the framework of a second-step decoupling scheme. It is shown that, as T → 0, the spin liquid goes over (without any change in symmetry) to a singlet state with energy (per bond) ?₀=?0.352 and the correlation length diverges as ξ ∝ T ^?1 exp(T ₀/T). The spatial spin correlators oscillate in sign with distance, as in the AFM state. The theory allows one to calculate the main characteristics of the system in all temperature ranges.     

Magnetic properties of 2D nano-islands I: Ising spin model

An Ising spin effective field theory (EFT) is developed as a framework for a detailed analysis of the magnetic properties of two-dimensional (2D) nano-islands on a nonmagnetic substrate with an out of plane magnetization. The Hamiltonian with nearest neighbor exchange interactions and single-atom magnetic anisotropy defines the ground state. The calculation yields the single site spin correlations, the magnetizations, and the isothermal susceptibilities for the core and periphery domains, and the island core phase diagrams. The choice of a spin S=1 for the atoms permits the analysis of the effects of spin fluctuations via the single site spin correlations. In particular we investigate the effects due to the different anisotropies and reduced dimensionalities for the core and periphery domains. The present model calculations are developed for different 2D nano-islands lattices. Detailed theoretical results are presented for the square and hexagonal lattices, with numerical applications for the 2D Co nano-islands on Pt. The derived transition temperature for the hexagonal lattice nano-islands is in good agreement with the experimental data for Co nano-islands on Pt. Though both the core and the periphery domains have the same order-disorder transition temperature, the magnetization of each domain attains this transition differently. The temperature behavior of the spin correlations is also fundamentally different for the periphery and core sites, which entails distinctly different isothermal susceptibilities, and yields statistically averaged nano-islands susceptibilities that do not correspond to a second order phase transition. The experimental susceptibility results for 2D Co nano-islands on Pt can be interpreted within our EFT Ising model without reference to a transition from a blocking state of the particle to a superparamagnetic behavior. The results for the different lattices are formally comparable, and demonstrate the robustness and general character of the model.     

A spin model for cholesteric liquid crystals

A spin model for cholestric liquid crystals is presented. The free energy is obtained in the mean field and from that the director correlation functions. It is found that one of the correlation functions diverges as (k₃² + bk_⊥⁴)^?1 where k₃ is the component of the wave-number parallel to the pitch axis, x_⊥ the component perpendicular to the pitch axis and b is a constant. This divergence persists to all orders in the small parameter q₀a where a is a molecular length and q₀ is 2π over the pitch. This divergence implies that the cholesteric state is unstable with respect to fluctuations.     

Spinons in the strongly correlated copper oxide chains in SrCuO2

We have investigated the spin dynamics in the strongly correlated chain copper oxide SrCuO2 for energies up to greater, similar 0.6 eV using inelastic neutron scattering. We observe a gapless continuum of magnetic excitations, which is well described by the "Müller ansatz" for the two-spinon continuum in the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain. The lower boundary of the continuum extends up to approximately 360 meV, which corresponds to an exchange constant J=226(12) meV.     

Landau-Fermi liquid analysis of the 2D t-t' Hubbard model

We calculate the Landau interaction function f (k,k') for the two-dimensional t-t' Hubbard model on the square lattice using second and higher order perturbation theory. Within the Landau-Fermi liquid framework we discuss the behavior of spin and charge susceptibilities as function of the onsite interaction and band filling. In particular we analyze the role of elastic umklapp processes as driving force for the anisotropic reduction of the compressibility on parts of the Fermi surface. Received 18 March 2002 Published online 9 July 2002     

Classical spin liquid properties of the infinite-component spin vector model on a fully frustrated two dimensional lattice

Thermodynamic quantities and correlation functions (CFs) of the classical antiferromagnet on the checkerboard lattice are studied for the exactly solvable infinite-component spin-vector model, D↦∞. In contrast to conventional two-dimensional magnets with continuous symmetry showing extended short-range order at distances smaller than the correlation length, r ξ _c∝ exp(T ^*/T), correlations in the checkerboard-lattice model decay already at the scale of the lattice spacing due to the strong degeneracy of the ground state characterized by a macroscopic number of strongly fluctuating local degrees of freedom. At low temperatures, spin CFs decay as < >∝ 1/r ² in the range a ₀≪r≪ξ _c∝T ^-1/2, where a₀ is the lattice spacing. Analytical results for the principal thermodynamic quantities in our model are very similar with MC simulations, exact and analytical results for the classical Heisenberg model (D = 3) on the pyrochlore lattice. This shows that the ground state of the infinite-component spin vector model on the checkerboard lattice is a classical spin liquid. Received 16 November 2001 and Received in final form 12 February 2002     

Modulated spin liquid: a new paradigm for URu2Si2

We argue that near a Kondo breakdown critical point, a spin liquid with spatial modulations can form. Unlike its uniform counterpart, we find that this occurs via a second order phase transition. The amount of entropy quenched when ordering is of the same magnitude as for an antiferromagnet. Moreover, the two states are competitive, and at low temperatures are separated by a first order phase transition. The modulated spin liquid we find breaks Z4 symmetry, as recently seen in the hidden order phase of URu2Si2. Based on this, we suggest that the modulated spin liquid is a viable candidate for this unique phase of matter.     

Anyonic loops in three-dimensional spin liquid and chiral spin liquid

We established a large class of exactly soluble spin liquids and chiral spin liquids on three-dimensional helix lattices by introducing Kitaev-type's spin coupling. In the chiral spin liquids, exact stable ground states with spontaneous breaking of the time reversal symmetry are found. The fractionalized loop excitations in both the spin and chiral spin liquids obey non-Abelian statistics. We characterize this kind of statistics by non-Abelian Berry phase and quantum algebra relation. The topological correlation of loops is independent of local order parameter and it measures the intrinsic global quantum entanglement of degenerate ground states.     

Longitudinal spin fluctuations in quasi-2D antiferromagnets

The longitudinal fluctuations (LF) in quasi-2D antiferromagnets are considered. The temperature and frequency dependence of the longitudinal susceptibility is determined. The contribution of the LF to the inelastic neutron scattering is discussed and it is shown that it has to be taken into account in some cases. If spin-wave interaction is neglected the staggered susceptibility diverges atk=0 and »0. As a result, the spin-wave interaction should be considered. It is shown that the critical dimension for this problem is equal to three and four forT=0 andT0, respectively.     

Vitrification of a monatomic 2D simple liquid

A monatomic simple liquid in two dimensions, where atoms interact isotropically through the Lennard-Jones-Gauss potential [M. Engel, H.-R. Trebin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 225505 (2007)], is vitrified by the use of a rapid cooling technique in a molecular dynamics simulation. Transformation to a crystalline state is investigated at various temperatures and the time-temperature-transformation (TTT) curve is determined. It is found that the transformation time to a crystalline state is the shortest at a temerature 14% below the melting temperature T _m and that at temperatures below T _v ≡ 0:6T _m the transformation time is much longer than the available CPU time. This indicates that a long-lived glassy state is realized for T ≤ T _v .      

Quantum spin liquid in interacting Kane-Mele model with staggered on-site potential

In this paper, we mainly study the magnetic properties of the interacting Kane-Mele model with staggered on-site potential. Due to the absence of spin rotation symmetry, there exists a spin anisotropic energy term in the effective nonlinear σ model (NLσM). Based on the NLσM with spin anisotropic energy term, we derive a complex phase diagram and find that there exist quantum spin liquid states at the moderate coupling region.     

Double reflection of electron spin in 2D semiconductors

The reflection of spin-polarized electrons from a potential barrier inside a quantum well (QW) is analyzed. Using Clifford (geometric) algebra it is shown that the spin–orbit interaction brings about a double reflection at an oblique incidence of an electronic beam. The reflected beam is in a superposition of two beams having different wavelengths and reflection angles which produces a two-period spatial beating pattern that can be observed experimentally in the electron spin polarization component which is normal to the QW.