Non-coplanar Model States in Quantum Magnetism Applications of the High-Order Coupled Cluster Method

Abstract

Coplanar model states for applications of the coupled cluster method (CCM) to problems in quantum magnetism are those in which all spins lie in a plane, whereas three-dimensional (3D) model states are, by contrast, non-coplanar ones in which all the spins do not lie in any single plane. A crucial first step in applying the CCM to any such lattice quantum spin system is to perform a passive rotation of the local spin axes so that all spins in the model state appear mathematically to point in the same (say, downwards z-)direction. Whereas this process leads to terms with only real coefficients in the rotated Hamiltonian for coplanar model states, an additional complication arises for 3D model states where the corresponding coefficients can become complex-valued. We show here for the first time how high-order implementations of the CCM can be performed for such Hamiltonians. We explain in detail why the extension of the computational implementation of the CCM when going from coplanar to 3D model states is a non-trivial task that has not hitherto been undertaken. To illustrate these new developments, we present results for three cases: (a) the spin-half one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet in an applied transverse magnetic field (as an exactly solvable test model to use as a yardstick for the viability and accuracy of our new methodology); (b) the spin-half triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet in the presence of an external magnetic field; and (c) the spin-S triangular-lattice XXZ antiferromagnet in the presence of an external magnetic field, for the cases frac{1}{2} le S le 5 . For 3D model states the sets of algebraic CCM equations for the ket- and bra-state correlation coefficients become complex-valued, but ground-state expectation values of all physical observables are manifestly real numbers, as required, and as we explicitly demonstrate in all three applications. Indeed, excellent correspondence is seen with the results of other methods, where they exist, for these systems. In particular, our CCM results demonstrate explicitly that coplanar ordering is favoured over non-coplanar ordering for the triangular-lattice spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnet at all values of the applied external magnetic field, whereas for the anisotropic XXZ model non-coplanar ordering can be favoured in some regions of the parameter space. Specifically, we present a precise determination of the boundary (i.e., the critical value of the XXZ anisotropy parameter Delta ) between a 3D ground state and a coplanar ground state for the XXZ model for values for the external magnetic field near to saturation, for values of the spin quantum number S le 5. Although the CCM calculations are computationally intensive for this frustrated model, especially for high spin quantum numbers, our accurate new results certainly improve our understanding of it.