Degenerate Ground State Manifold Research Articles

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Substituted Delafossite-Type Oxides CuCr<sub>1 － x</sub>Sc<sub>x</sub>O<sub>2</sub>

This work describes the scandium doping effect on the structural and magnetic properties of delafossite-type oxides CuCr1 － xScxO2. The lattice parameters were found to vary according to Vegard’s low. A reflection broadening is observed, that is ascribed to local lattice distortion due to the ionic radius difference between Cr3+ and the non-magnetic dopants. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show that the dominant interactions are antiferromagnetic (AFM) but that doping induces significant changes. The coupling between the local spins at the Cr sites and doped metal transition may enhance spin fluctuations at the Cr sites, which break the residual magnetic degeneracy as fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in a highly magnetic degenerate ground state manifold of some frustrated systems.

Magnetic properties of nanoscale compass-Heisenberg planar clusters

We study a model of spins 1/2 on a square lattice, generalizing the quantum compass model via the addition of perturbing Heisenberg interactions between nearest neighbors, and investigate its phase diagram and magnetic excitations. This model has motivations both from the field of strongly correlated systems with orbital degeneracy and from that of solid-state based devices proposed for quantum computing. We find that the high degeneracy of ground states of the compass model is fragile and changes into twofold degenerate ground states for any finite amplitude of Heisenberg coupling. By computing the spin structure factors of finite clusters with Lanczos diagonalization, we evidence a rich variety of phases characterized by Z2 symmetry, that are either ferromagnetic, C-type antiferromagnetic, or of Neel type, and analyze the effects of quantum fluctuations on phase boundaries. In the ordered phases the anisotropy of compass interactions leads to a finite excitation gap to spin waves. We show that for small nanoscale clusters with large anisotropy gap the lowest excitations are column-flip excitations that emerge due to Heisenberg perturbations from the manifold of degenerate ground states of the compass model. We derive an effective one-dimensional XYZ model which faithfully reproduces the exact structure of these excited states and elucidates their microscopic origin. The low energy column-flip or compass-type excitations are robust against decoherence processes and are therefore well designed for storing information in quantum computing. We also point out that the dipolar interactions between nitrogen-vacancy centers forming a rectangular lattice in a diamond matrix may permit a solid-state realization of the anisotropic compass-Heisenberg model.

Coexistence of long- and short-range magnetic order in the frustrated magnet SrYb2O4

SrYb${}_{2}$O${}_{4}$ is a geometrically frustrated rare-earth magnet, which presents a variety of interrelated magnetic phenomena. The magnetic Yb${}^{3+}$ ions ($J=7/2$) form potentially frustrated ``zigzag'' chains along the $c$ axis, arranged in a honeycomb fashion in the $ab$ plane. Heat capacity reveals a magnetic phase transition at ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}=0.9$ K. The magnetic structure was solved by polarized neutron diffraction and found to be noncollinear with a reduction of the ordered spin moment from the full ionic moment. The low-energy excitations, which were measured by inelastic neutron scattering reveal diffuse scattering both above and below ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}$. Heat capacity and magnetocaloric effect were performed to map out the magnetic phase diagram as a function of magnetic field and temperature and show a complicated series of states. Altogether, the results suggest that the magnetic interactions in SrYb${}_{2}$O${}_{4}$ compete with each other and with the single-ion anisotropy to produce a highly degenerate ground state manifold that suppresses the magnetic order, broadens the excitations and gives rise to a complex phase diagram.

Entanglement spectrum of the Heisenberg XXZ chain near the ferromagnetic point

We study the entanglement spectrum (ES) of a finite XXZ spin- chain in the limit Δ → −1+ for both open and periodic boundary conditions. At Δ =− 1 (ferromagnetic point) the model is equivalent to the Heisenberg ferromagnet and its degenerate ground state manifold is the SU(2) multiplet with maximal total spin. Any state in this so-called ‘symmetric sector’ is an equal weight superposition of all possible spin configurations. In the gapless phase at Δ >− 1 this property is progressively lost as one moves away from the Δ =− 1 point. We investigate how the ES obtained from the states in this manifold reflects this change, using exact diagonalization and Bethe ansatz calculations. We find that in the limit Δ → −1+ most of the ES levels show divergent behavior. Moreover, while at Δ =− 1 the ES contains no information about the boundaries, for Δ >− 1 it depends dramatically on the choice of boundary conditions. For both open and periodic boundary conditions the ES exhibits an elegant multiplicity structure for which we conjecture a combinatorial formula. We also study the entanglement eigenfunctions, i.e. the eigenfunctions of the reduced density matrix. We find that the eigenfunctions corresponding to the non-diverging levels mimic the behavior of the state wavefunction, whereas the others show intriguing polynomial structures. Finally we analyze the distribution of the ES levels as the system is detuned away from Δ =− 1.

Exact solution for the degenerate ground-state manifold of a strongly interacting one-dimensional Bose-Fermi mixture

We present the exact solution for the many-body wavefunction of a one-dimensional mixture of bosons and spin-polarized fermions with equal masses and infinitely strong repulsive interactions under external confinement. Such a model displays a large degeneracy of the ground state. Using a generalized Bose-Fermi mapping we find the solution for the whole set of ground-state wavefunctions of the degenerate manifold and we characterize them according to group-symmetry considerations. We find that the density profile and the momentum distribution depends on the symmetry of the solution. By combining the wavefunctions of the degenerate manifold with suitable symmetry and guided by the strong-coupling form of the Bethe-Ansatz solution for the homogeneous system we propose an analytic expression for the many-body wavefunction of the inhomogeneous system which well describes the ground state at finite, large and equal interactions strengths, as validated by numerical simulations.

Non-Abelian Operations on Majorana Fermions via Single-Charge Control

We demonstrate that non-Abelian rotations within the degenerate ground-state manifold of a set of Majorana fermions can be realized by the addition or removal of single electrons, and propose an implementation using Coulomb blockaded quantum dots. The exchange of electrons generates rotations similar to braiding, though not in real space. Unlike braiding operations, rotations by a continuum of angles are possible, while still being partially robust against perturbations. The quantum dots can also be used for readout of the state of the Majorana system via a charge measurement.

Loop algorithm for classical Heisenberg models with spin-ice type degeneracy

In many frustrated Ising models, a single-spin flip dynamics is frozen out at low temperatures compared to the dominant interaction energy scale because of the discrete "multiple valley" structure of degenerate ground-state manifold. This makes it difficult to study low-temperature physics of these frustrated systems by using Monte Carlo simulation with the standard single-spin flip algorithm. A typical example is the so-called spin ice model, frustrated ferromagnets on the pyrochlore lattice. The difficulty can be avoided by a global-flip algorithm, the loop algorithm, that enables to sample over the entire discrete manifold and to investigate low-temperature properties. We extend the loop algorithm to Heisenberg spin systems with strong easy-axis anisotropy in which the ground-state manifold is continuous but still retains the spin-ice type degeneracy. We examine different ways of loop flips and compare their efficiency. The extended loop algorithm is applied to the following two models, a Heisenberg antiferromagnet with easy-axis anisotropy along the z axis, and a Heisenberg spin ice model with the local <111> easy-axis anisotropy. For both models, we demonstrate high efficiency of our loop algorithm by revealing the low-temperature properties which were hard to access by the standard single-spin flip algorithm. For the former model, we examine the possibility of order-from-disorder and critically check its absence. For the latter model, we elucidate a gas-liquid-solid transition, namely, crossover or phase transition among paramagnet, spin-ice liquid, and ferromagnetically-ordered ice-rule state.

Monte Carlo study of degenerate ground states and residual entropy in a frustrated honeycomb lattice Ising model

We study a classical fully frustrated honeycomb lattice Ising model using Markov-chain Monte Carlo methods and exact calculations. The Hamiltonian realizes a degenerate ground-state manifold of equal-energy states, where each hexagonal plaquette of the lattice has one and only one unsatisfied bond, with an extensive residual entropy that grows as the number of spins N. Traditional single-spin-flip Monte Carlo methods fail to sample all possible spin configurations in this ground state efficiently, due to their separation by large energy barriers. We develop a nonlocal "chain-flip" algorithm that solves this problem, and demonstrate its effectiveness on the Ising Hamiltonian with and without perturbative interactions. The two perturbations considered are a slightly weakened bond and an external magnetic field h. For some cases, the chain-flip move is necessary for the simulation to find an ordered ground state. In the case of the magnetic field, two magnetized ground states with nonextensive entropy are found, and two special values of h exist where the residual entropy again becomes extensive, scaling proportionally to N ln phi, where phi is the golden ratio.

Magnetic Ground State of an ExperimentalS=1/2Kagome Antiferromagnet

We present a detailed analysis of the heat capacity of a near-perfect S=1/2 kagome antiferromagnet, zinc paratacamite Zn(x)Cu(4-x)(OH)(6)Cl(2), as a function of stoichiometry x-->1 and for fields of up to 9 T. We obtain the heat capacity intrinsic to the kagome layers by accounting for the weak Cu2+/Zn2+ exchange between the Cu and the Zn sites, which was measured independently for x=1 using neutron diffraction. The evolution of the heat capacity for x=0.8...1 is then related to the hysteresis in the magnetic susceptibility. We conclude that for x>0.8 zinc paratacamite is a spin liquid without a spin gap, in which unpaired spins give rise to a macroscopically degenerate ground state manifold with increasingly glassy dynamics as x is lowered.

Coherent pulsed excitation of degenerate multistate systems: Exact analytic solutions

We show that the solution of a multistate system composed of $N$ degenerate lower (ground) states and one upper (excited) state can be reduced by using the Morris-Shore transformation to the solution of a two-state system involving only the excited state and a (bright) superposition of ground states. In addition, there are $N\ensuremath{-}1$ dark states composed of ground states. We use this decomposition to derive analytical solutions for degenerate extensions of the most popular exactly soluble models: the resonance solution, the Rabi, Landau-Zener, Rosen-Zener, Allen-Eberly, and Demkov-Kunike models. We suggest various applications of the multistate solutions, for example, as tools for creating multistate coherent superpositions by generalized resonant $\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses. We show that such generalized $\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses can occur even when the upper state is far off resonance, at specific detunings, which makes it possible to operate in the degenerate ground-state manifold without populating the (possibly lossy) upper state, even transiently.

Order–Disorder Transition in a Fully Frustrated Transverse-Field Ising Chain

An antiferromagnetic Ising model on the Δ chain, with a macroscopic ground state degeneracy and exponentially decaying spin correlation functions, is studied. By introducing transverse magnetic fields Γ on spins at tips of the triangles and λΓ on spins on the bottom chain, we study the ground state as a function of λ and Γ. The λ=0 problem is exactly solved and the ground state has a staggered magnetization on the bottom chain for any Γ>0. Because the transverse field on the bottom chain with finite λ destroys the staggered order, the order–disorder transition occurs as λ is increased. We calculate the transition point λ c (Γ/ J ) as a function of Γ/ J , where J denotes the magnitude of the exchange interaction, by using the series expansion method around the λ=0 limit and conclude that λ c (Γ/ J =+0)≃0.9459. It is shown that states in the degenerate ground state manifold at Γ=0 are crucial in getting a finite value of λ c (+0).

Er2Ti2O7:Evidence of quantum order by disorder in a frustrated antiferromagnet

Er_2Ti_2O_7 has been suggested to be a realization of the frustrated < 111 > XY pyrochlore lattice antiferromagnet, for which theory predicts fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in a highly degenerate ground state manifold. We present a theoretical analysis of the classical model compared to neutron scattering experiments on the real material, both below and above T_N = 1.173(2) K. The model correctly predicts the ordered magnetic structure, suggesting that the real system has order stabilised by zero-point quantum fluctuations that can be modelled by classical spin wave theory. However, the model fails to describe the excitations of the system, which show unusual features.

On the meaning of Goldstone’s theorem

It is shown that when a continuous symmetry is broken, a polar singularity arises in the vertex part at zero total energy and momentum transfer. Such singularity has as a consequence (and is in turn entirely predictable as a consequence of) the existence of a continuous manifold of degenerate ground states, and arises from the possibility of freely « rotating » the system among such states. Whether or not it is possible to infer the existence of a bosonlike excitation with frequencyΩ(q) such that\(\mathop {\lim }\limits_{q \to 0} \)Ω(q)=0 depends on the range of the forces.