Effective Hamiltonian for the pyrochlore antiferromagnet: Semiclassical derivation and degeneracy

Abstract

In the classical pyrochlore lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet, there is a macroscopic continuous ground-state degeneracy. We study the semiclassical limit of large spin length $S$, keeping only the lowest-order (in $1∕S$) correction to the classical Hamiltonian. We perform a detailed analysis of the spin-wave modes, and using a real-space loop expansion, we produce an effective Hamiltonian, in which the degrees of freedom are Ising variables representing fluxes through loops in the lattice. We find a family of degenerate collinear ground states, related by gaugelike ${Z}_{2}$ transformations, and provide bounds for the order of the degeneracy. We further show that the theory can readily be applied to determine the ground states of the Heisenberg Hamiltonian on related lattices and to field-induced collinear magnetization plateau states.