Frustrated Heisenberg Antiferromagnets on Cubic Lattices: Magnetic Structures, Exchange Gaps, and Non-Conventional Critical Behaviour

Abstract

We have studied the Heisenberg antiferromagnets characterized by the magnetic structures with the periods being two times larger than the lattice period. We have considered all the types of the Bravais lattices (simple cubic, bcc and fcc) and divided all these antiferromagnets into 7 classes i.e. 3 plus 4 classes denoted with symbols A and B correspondingly. The order parameter characterizing the degeneracies of the magnetic structures is an ordinary Neel vector for A classes and so-called 4-complex for B classes. We have taken into account the fluctuation corrections for these states within the spin-wave and large-N expansions ($N$ is the number of spin components). Below the Neel temperature $T_{\rm{N}}$ quantum and thermal fluctuations lift the degeneracy making simple one-wave vector collinear structure preferable for all the classes. A satellite of this effect is opening of the exchange gaps at certain wave vectors in the spin wave spectrum (there is an analogous effect for the nonuniform static transverse susceptibility). However, as the temperature approaches $T_{\rm{N}}$, the exchange gaps are closing. We have calculated the critical indices $\eta$ and $\nu$ to order of $1/N$ and found that they differ for A and B classes.