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Order and disorder in lowdimensional quantum spin systems

Dr. F. Andreas Voigt

Institut fr Theoretische Physik u Otto-von-Guericke Universitt Magdeburg a

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Overview
introduction + motivation numerical methods results The HeisenbergStar The Sierpinskigasket conclusion

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Introduction

quantum spin systems = quantum many-body systems basic element = magnetic moment of particles = spin spin - quantum object with ,,uctuation

interaction = exchange between spins i j s s isotropic Heisenberg exchange J ss s i sj s i sj s i sj J (ij ) = J (xx + yy + zz ) & %

' dierent kinds of magnetic order

ferromagnet

antiferromagnet

parameters which inuences the magnetic order

order

f ... frustration, T ... temperatur d ... dimension,z ... coordination number, S ... spin quantum number & %

disorder

f*T z*S*d

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Motivation
temperatur

high temperature superconductivity (HTSC)

phase diagram of HTSC

discovery by Bednorz & Mller 1986 on u doped La2 CuO4 with Tc =35K (recent progress:
max Tc =125K)

400 antiferromagnetism

300 200 100

BCS theory not able to describe this phenomenon current research magnetic correlations are essential for describing HTSC magnetic properties of the undoped cuprates are well described by Heisenberg quantum spin systems magnetic order destroyed by doping doping frustration

spin liquid superconductivity

0.1

0.2
doping

0.3

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What about frustration?

dictionary: ,,a deep chronic sense or state of insecurity and dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfullled needs physics: competing interaction

frustration due to: unfrustrated antiferromagnet geometry dierent interaction %

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' What is known about the magnetic order of Heisenberg quantum spin systems with spin 1/2 ?
Mermin-Wagner theorem for Heisenberg spin systems with d = 1 or 2
T > 0 longrange magnetic order (LRO) impossible T=0 (ground state) LRO possible

ground state magnetic order:

d=1 spin chain with nearestneighbour interaction exact solution (Bethe-Ansatz): no LRO d=2 systems (square lattice, triangular lattice, honeycomb lattice) no exact solution known considerations using dierent methods (exact diagonalization, spin wave theory, renormalization group theory, quantum Monte-Carlo methods, Coupled-Cluster method etc.): LRO present

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Aim
analytic solution are rare 1. search for models with analytic solution HeisenbergStar

2. How does frustration inuence the magnetic order?

d=1: no LRO

d=2: LRO present

3. What about the transition between d=1 and d=2? & Sierpinskigasket
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Numerical methods
1. full diagonalization of small systems (N15) calculation of thermodynamic properties 2. exact diagonalization with Lanczos for systems up to N=36 calculation of the ground state and some excitations 3. Decoupled-Cell quantum Monte-Carlo method for systems up to N1000 importance sampling method for calculating thermodynamical properties single spin ip due to a local surrounding (decoupled cell) avoiding ,,sign problem 4. variational wave function calculation for systems up to N1000 improving variational parameters for an ansatz wave function calculation of the ground state and rst excitation

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Results
The HeisenbergStar

spin model: central spin s0 + surrounding HR {si } H= J1 N

HR
J1
S0

s0 si + J2 HR {si }
i=1
Si

J2
Sj

S0

N+1 spins with s=1/2 antiferromagnetic interaction: J1 ,J2 > 0

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basic element = triangle frustration

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surrounding HR {si }
1 N
N

linear chain z=2 if J1 =0: no LRO

LK HR =

si si+1
i=1

square lattice 1 QG HR = z=4 2N if J1 =0: LRO present

(si si+ + si si+y ) x

i=1

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Lieb-Mattis model z=N/2 if J1 =0: LRO present

LM HR

4 = 2 N

si sj
i,j=1 iA,jB

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ground state energy vs. J2 /J1

linear chain: quasi-analytic solution with Bethe-Ansatz square lattice: exact diagonalization with N26 and extrapolation N Lieb-Mattis model: analytic solution

E0 -0.25 linear chain square lattice Lieb-Mattis model -0.5 0 0.25 0.5 J2/J1 0.75 1

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maximum of energy maximum of frustration

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P =

total magnetic correlation P vs. J2 /J1

1 N2
N

| si sj |.
i,j=1

rst transition analytically soluble (independent of surrounding and system size) surrounding ferromagnetic until 1 J2 /J1 = 4 minimum P maximum E0 strong frustration rapid change of P N : destruction of LRO for linear chain and square lattice by frustration

measures a global magnetic order of the system

P 0.25 linear chain N=26 square lattice N=26 Lieb-Mattis model

0.1 0 0.25 0.5 J2/J1 0.75 1

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J2 >> J1 : central spin decouples magnetic order is known: linear chain - no LRO square lattice and Lieb-Mattis LRO present

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' spin correlation si sj vs. temperature kT

full diagonalization of small systems (N=8) J2 /J1 =0.26 (strong frustration) Lieb-Mattis model and square lattice by chance identical
-0.2 < s0 si >

order-from-disorder eect strong frustration high degeneracy of the ground state thermal uctuations lifting of degeneracy the state is more symmetric spin correlations are increasing T : paramagnet

-0.25 Lineare Kette Lieb-Mattis-System -0.3 0 0.25

kT

0.5

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HeisenbergStar analytic solution frustration reduces or destroys the magnetic order frustration + thermal uctuations order-from-disorder eect

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The Sierpinskigasket

spin system on a fractal lattice with dimension 1 < d < 2

[ Tomczak & Ferchmin (1995) ]
15 6

H =J
i,j=1

si sj

basic building steps

J=1 antiferromagnetic basic element = triangle frustration fractal dimension: df = ln 3 1.58 ln 2

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system after 6 steps with N=366

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The classical ground state

15

13

14

6 12 3 5 8

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classical longrange order with 3sublattice structure 120 angle between the classical spins

Are the quantum uctuations able to destroy the classical longrange order?
consideration of spin correlation, ground state energy, energy spectra, lowtemperature specic heat of signatures for magnetic ordering
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spin correlations < si si+r > vs. distance r

0 const. disordered ordered

limr < si si+r >=

exact diagonalization of small systems

0.5

<si si+r >

0.05

Lineare Kette N=16 Sierpinski Dreieck N=15 Quadrat-Gitter N=16 0.005 3 3 4 6

linear chain: power law decay (analytical solution) square lattice: slight decay to a constant (not seen due to small lattice) Sierpinskigasket: strong (exponential) decay

rst hint for disordered ground state &

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ground state energy eo vs. system size N

if e0 is independent of N hint for a disordered ground state exact diagonalization and variational calculations
square lattice -0.65 ED VMC -0.35 Sierpinski-gasket ED VMC

e0
0

-0.67 8 eED()=-0.671

-0.38

-0.41 -0.69 -0.44

-0.71 N=100 N=36

1/N3/2

N=16

N=1095

N=15

1/N

N=6

square lattice: eo scales as expected with N 3/2 Sierpinskigasket: no scaling of e0 with system size

hint for disordered ground state &

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energy spectrum

for lattices with LRO: Pisatower structure of the low lying energy levels Emin (S) = E0 + AS(S + 1) ; A 1/N

N : degeneracy of the low lying states symmetry broken ground state with LRO
-0.1 Es -0.3 -0.3 -0.5 square lattice N=16 2 3 S(S+1) 4 -0.4 S=1/2 3/2 Sierpinski-gasket N=15 5/2 7/2 S(S+1) -0.2 Es

-0.7 S= 0 1

no Pisatower for Sierpinskigasket additional states wit S=1/2 below the rst S=3/2 excitation

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hint for disordered ground state

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specic heat vs. temperature kT

full diagonalization for N=15 Decoupled-Cell quantum Monte-Carlo method for N1095

C 0.2

0.1 N=1095 DCM N=15 VD 0 0.5 1 1.5 kT 2

ordered systems one broad maximum Sierpinski-gasket: additional maxima for kT < 0.5 very similar to the d=2 kagome lattice (disordered lattice?)

hint for disordered ground state &

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Conclusion
investigation of ground state and thermodynamics of antiferromagnetic Heisenberg quantum spin systems with s=1/2 ??? How does frustration or dimension inuence the magnetic order ???
Heisenberg-Star: analytic solution frustration weakening or destruction of longrange magnetic order frustration + thermal uctuations order-from-disorder eect increase of dimension or coordination number stabilization of magnetic order Sierpinskigasket with dimension df < 2 + frustration destruction of magnetic order

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