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     

Numerical Solution of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnetic Chains Using a Projector Method

An efficient projector method is proposed to calculate the energy gap between the ground,state and the first excited state of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains. We exactly computed the two lowest-lying energies for the magnetization S_t^z= 0 and the lowestlying energy for S_t^z=±1 on chains up to 16 spins. The lowest-lying energy stat6 for S_t^z= 0 is a singlet ground state. The second lowest-lying energy state for S_t^z= 0 and the lowestlying energy states for S_t^z=±1 are triplet degenerate, which are the first excited energy states. We also imposed the Monte Carlo technique to estimate the lowest-lying energies for both S_t^z= 0 and 1 on longer chains up to 32 spins. We found that the singlet-triplet energy gap trends to zero as N→∞.     

Bipartite entanglement in spin-1/2Heisenberg model

The bipartite entanglement of the two-and three-spin Heisenberg model was investigated by using the concept of negativity.It is found that for the ground-state entanglement of the two-spin model,the negativity always decreases as B increases if A Δ＜y-1,and it may keep a steady value of 0.5in the region of B＜J[(Δ+1)2-y2]1/2if Δ＞y-1,while for that of the three-spin model,the negativity exhibits square wave structures if y=0 or Δ=0.For thermal states,there are two areas showing entanglement,namely,the main region and the sub-region.The main region exists only when Δ＞Δc(Δc1=and(y2-1)/2for the 2-and 3-spin model respectively)and extends in terms of B and T as Δ increases,while the sub-region survives only when y≠0 and shrinks in terms of B and T as Δ increases.     

Bipartite entanglement in spin-1/2 Heisenberg model

The bipartite entanglement of the two- and three-spin Heisenberg model was investigated by using the concept of negativity. It is found that for the ground-state entanglement of the two-spin model, the negativity always decreases as B increases if Δ<γ－1, and it may keep a steady value of 0.5 in the region of B2－γ²]^1/2 if Δ>γ－1, while for that of the three-spin model, the negativity exhibits square wave structures if γ=0 or Δ=0. For thermal states, there are two areas showing entanglement, namely, the main region and the sub-region. The main region exists only when Δ>Δ_c (Δ_c=γ－1 and (γ²－1)/2 for the 2- and 3-spin model respectively) and extends in terms of B and T as Δ increases, while the sub-region survives only when γ≠0 and shrinks in terms of B and T as Δ increases.     

The spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with competing interactions

We investigate the thermodynamical and magnetic properties of the one dimensional spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with competing interactions near the transition between the "dimer phase" and the "frustrated phase".     

Numerical Solution of the spin-3/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnetic Chains Using a Projector Method

An efficient projector method is used to calculate the energies of the ground state and the first excited state, and hence the energy gap between them, of the spin-3/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains with linear sizes up to N = 32. For the chains up to N = 8 the exact results are obtained, and for longer chains up to N = 32 they are estimated by imposing on Monte Carlo technique. It is found that the size dependence of the ground state energy per site has the form of [eo(N) - eo] ～ 1/N², and the value of the ground state energy per site as N→∞ is eo = -2.8248. Our results show that the energy gap trends to zero as N→∞, which is consistent with the rigorous proof.     

Geometric phase for degenerate states of spin-1 and spin-1/2 pair

The geometric phase of a bi-particle model is discussed. One can drive the system to evolve by applying an external magnetic field, thereby controlling the geometric phase. The model has degenerate lowest-energy eigenvectors. The initial state is assumed to be the linear superposition or mixture of the eigenvectors. The relationship between the geometric phase and the structures of the initial state is considered, and the results are extended to a more general model.      

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.     

Observation of complex bound states in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg XXZ chain using local quantum quenches

We consider the nonequilibrium evolution in the spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg chain for fixed magnetization after a local quantum quench. This model is equivalent to interacting spinless fermions. Initially an infinite magnetic field is applied to n consecutive sites and the ground state is calculated. At time t=0 the field is switched off and the time evolution of observables such as the z component of spin is computed using the time evolving block decimation algorithm. We find that the observables exhibit strong signatures of linearly propagating spinon and bound state excitations. These persist even when integrability-breaking perturbations are included. Since bound states ("strings") are notoriously difficult to observe using conventional probes such as inelastic neutron scattering, we conclude that local quantum quenches are an ideal setting for studying their properties. We comment on implications of our results for cold atom experiments.     

Magnetic properties of a mixed spin-1 and spin-2 Heisenberg ferrimagnetic system: Green’s function study

The magnetic behaviors of a mixed spin-1 and spin-2 Heisenberg ferrimagnetic system on a square lattice are studied by using the double-time temperature-dependent Green’s function technique. In order to decouple the higher order Green’s functions, Anderson and Callen’s decoupling and random phase approximations have been used. The system is described in the presence of an external magnetic field. We illustrate the influences of the nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor interactions and the single-ion anisotropies with an external magnetic field on compensation and critical temperatures. We found that the system that includes only the nearest-neighbor interaction and the single-ion anisotropies does not have a compensation temperature. When the next-nearest-neighbor interactions exceed a certain minimum value, a compensation temperature begins to appear. For some negative values of single-ion anisotropies, there exist first-order phase transitions. The system has first-order phase transition properties when it is under the influence of an external magnetic field.     

Experimental realization of a spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We report the results of magnetization and specific heat measurements on Ba{3}CoSb{2}O{9}, in which the magnetic Co{2+} ion has a fictitious spin 1/2, and provide evidence that a spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a regular triangular lattice is actually realized in Ba{3}CoSb{2}O{9}. We found that the entire magnetization curve including the one-third quantum magnetization plateau is in excellent quantitative agreement with the results of theoretical calculations. We also found that Ba{3}CoSb{2}O{9} undergoes a three-step transition within a narrow temperature range.     

Green's function study of a mixed spin-1 and spin-3/2 Heisenberg ferrimagnetic system

The magnetic properties of a mixed spin-1 and spin-3/2 Heisenberg ferrimagnetic system on a square lattice are investigated by using the double-time temperature-dependent Green's function technique. In order to decouple the higher order Green's functions, Anderson and Callen's decoupling and random phase approximations have been used. The nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor interactions and the single-ion anisotropies are considered and their effects on compensation and critical temperature are studied.     

Valence-bond spin-liquid state in two-dimensional frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets

Fermionic valence-bond approach in terms of SU(4) representation is proposed to describe the J1-J2 frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnetic (AF) model on a bipartite square lattice. A uniform mean field solution without breaking the translational and rotational symmetries describes a valence-bond spin-liquid state, interpolating the two different AF ordered states in the large J1 and large J2 limits, respectively. This novel spin-liquid state is gapless with the vanishing density of states at the Fermi nodal points. Moreover, a sharp resonance peak in the dynamic structure factor is predicted for momenta q=(0,0) and (pi,pi) in the strongly frustrated limit J(2)/J(1) approximately 1/2, which can be checked by neutron scattering experiments.     

Universal quantum computation with spin-1/2 pairs and Heisenberg exchange

An efficient and intuitive framework for universal quantum computation is presented that uses pairs of spin-1/2 particles to form logical qubits and a single physical interaction, Heisenberg exchange, to produce all gate operations. Only two Heisenberg gate operations are required to produce a controlled pi-phase shift, compared to nineteen for exchange-only proposals employing three spins. Evolved from well-studied decoherence-free subspaces, this architecture inherits immunity from collective decoherence mechanisms. The simplicity and adaptability of this approach should make it attractive for spin-based quantum computing architectures.