Frustrated Magnetism: A Case Study of Geometric Frustration

Abstract

In this research work, frustrations arising from the geometries of triangular lattices have been studied with the aid of Ising and Heisenberg models. The study reveals that geometrical frustrations can generate multiple degeneracies in the ground state. The quantum spin flip terms in the Heisenberg model are observed to play a vital role in the partial lifting up of these degeneracies. Hence, multiple degeneracies as consequence of frustrations are more pronounced for the Ising systems, which are devoid of quantum fluctuations. The observed six- and four-fold ground state degeneracies at zero field for three spins Ising and Heisenberg systems respectively are broken down to half at finite longitudinal fields. For this three-spin system, quantum phase transitions (QPT) are observed at critical longitudinal fields of J and 1.5J respectively for the Ising and Heisenberg models. At these critical fields, the ground states are observed to shift from quasi-antiferromagnet to ferromagnet. However, for the Heisenberg three-spin system in the presence of a transverse field, no transition is observed.