Ground state of a spin-phonon system. II. Adiabatic limit

The phase transition for a spin in a magnetic fieldB coupled to acoustic phonons by a coupling constant is studied. The caseB1 with an upper cutoff of unity for the phonons is studied systematically by using an adiabatic canonical transformation. In leading order the transition line is at =2/B=1. In the normal phase (<1) the ground-state energy is –B/2 plus a function of that is given explicitly as the solution of a pair theory. In the broken symmetry phase (>1) the energy is the classical energy plus the same function of =1/². It is found that the first derivatives of the energy with respect to and with respect toB have finite jumps across the transition line. Quantum fluctuations in both phases are treated. Higher-order terms are a series of powers of 1/B times functions of . The case of a small transverse fieldB is also studied. The sharp transition disappears and is replaced by rapid variation in a region of order (B₁/B)^2/3 about =1.