Abstract
The Heisenberg triangular antiferromagnet is a model widely studied by analytic low-temperature expansion and Monte Carlo simulation. The classical version of the model is characterized by infinitely many minimum energy configurations even if an in-plane external magnetic field is turned on. This degeneracy is lifted by thermal fluctuations and the same effect is found when quantum fluctuations are accounted for. We find an analogous scenario in the 3D hexagonal model where the intrachain coupling is ferromagnetic and the interchain one is antiferromagnetic. Such a model is suitable to describe some hexagonal ABX3 compounds. We are interested, in particular, in CsCuCl3, where our theoretical results compare favorably with magnetic resonance experimental data and with magnetization measurements as a function of the external magnetic field. The role of quantum and thermal fluctuations in the selection of a particular spin pattern out of the infinitely many configurations that minimize the classical energy of the model is discussed.
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