Quantum tetrahedral mean field theory of the magnetic susceptibility for the pyrochlore lattice

A quantum mean field theory of the pyrochlore lattice is presented. The starting point is not the individual magnetic ions, as in the usual Curie-Weiss mean field theory, but a set of interacting corner-sharing tetrahedra. We check the consistency of the model against magnetic susceptibility data and find good agreement between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data. Implications of the model and future extensions are also discussed.