Bloch-Ising phase transition in spin solitons

Heisenberg spin chains with ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor coupling and an easy axis of magnetisation are considered in the classical limit. The critical ratioa _c between the anisotropy coefficient and the exchange integral for which the 180°-Blochtype soliton undergoes a phase transition to an Ising-type soliton is calculated by an exact analytical algorithm. For chains including 2N=4,6,8,... spins, one finds a sequencea _c (2N) which converges rapidly to the valuea _c()=2/3 (e.g.a _c (12)=0.66664) marking the phase transition from a Bloch- to an Ising-structure of the soliton in an infinite chain.Dedicated to Professor Harry Thomas on the occasion of his 60th birthday