Plaquette Valence-bond Crystal Research Articles

Field-Induced Quantum Phase Transitions inS= 1/2J1–J2Heisenberg Model on Square Lattice

We study the magnetic field dependence of the ground state of $S=1/2$ $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice by the DMRG method with the sine-square deformation. We obtain 8 different phases including plaquette valence-bond crystal with a finite spin gap, transverse N$\acute{\rm e}$el, transverse stripe, 1/2 magnetization plateau with up-up-up-down (uuud), and three new phases we named Y-like, V-like, and $\Psi$ phases around $J_2/J_1$ =0.55-0.6 depending on the magnetic field. The phase transitions to uuud and Y-like states from transverse N$\acute{\rm e}$el (at $J_2/J_1$ = 0.55) and stripe (at $J_2/J_1$ = 0.6) states are discontinuous, as in the case of spin-flop.

Frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice with spin quantum number s ≥ 1

The ground-state (GS) phase diagram of the frustrated spin-s J1-J2-J3 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice is studied using the coupled cluster method implemented to high orders of approximation, for spin quantum numbers s = 1, 3/2, 2 , 5/2. The model has antiferromagnetic (AFM) nearest-neighbour, next-nearest-neighbour and next-next-nearest-neighbour exchange couplings (with strength J1 > 0, J2 > 0 and J3 > 0, respectively). We specifically study the case J3 = J2 = κJ1, in the range 0 < κ < 1 of the frustration parameter, which includes the point of maximum classical (s → ∞) frustration, viz., the classical critical point at κcl = 1/2, which separates the Neel phase for κ < κcl and the collinear striped AFM phase for κ > κcl. Results are presented for the GS energy, magnetic order parameter and plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) susceptibility. For all spins s > 3/2 we find a quantum phase diagram very similar to the classical one, with a direct first-order transition between the two collinear AFM states at a value κc(s) which is slightly greater than κcl [e.g., κc(3/2) ≈ 0.53(1)] and which approaches it monotonically as s → ∞. By contrast, for the case s = 1 the transition is split into two such that the stable GS phases are one with Néel AFM order for κ < κc1 = 0.485(5) and one with striped AFM order for κ > κc2 = 0.528(5), just as in the case s = 1/2 (for which κc1 ≈ 0.47 and κc2 ≈ 0.60). For both the s = 1/2 and s = 1 models the transition at κc2 appears to be of first-order type, while that at κc1 appears to be continuous. However, whereas in the s = 1/2 case the intermediate phase appears to have PVBC order over the entire range κc1 < κ < κc2, in the s = 1 case PVBC ordering either exists only over a very small part of the region or, more likely, is absent everywhere.

Competing states in the SU(3) Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice: Plaquette valence-bond crystal versus dimerized color-ordered state

Conflicting predictions have been made for the ground state of the SU(3) Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice: Tensor network simulations found a plaquette order [Zhao et al, Phys. Rev. B 85, 134416 (2012)], where singlets are formed on hexagons, while linear flavor-wave theory (LFWT) suggested a dimerized, color ordered state [Lee and Yang, Phys. Rev. B 85, 100402 (2012)]. In this work we show that the former state is the true ground state by a systematic study with infinite projected-entangled pair states (iPEPS), for which the accuracy can be systematically controlled by the so-called bond dimension $D$. Both competing states can be reproduced with iPEPS by using different unit cell sizes. For small $D$ the dimer state has a lower variational energy than the plaquette state, however, for large $D$ it is the latter which becomes energetically favorable. The plaquette formation is also confirmed by exact diagonalizations and variational Monte Carlo studies, according to which both the dimerized and plaquette states are non-chiral flux states.

Frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the checkerboard lattice:J1-J2model

We study the ground-state (gs) phases of the spin-half anisotropic planar pyrochlore (or crossed chain) model using the coupled cluster method (CCM). The model is a frustrated antiferromagnetic (AFM) $J_{1}$--$J_{2}$ system on the checkerboard lattice, with nearest-neighbor exchange bonds $J_{1}>0$ and next-nearest-neighbor bonds $J_{2} \equiv \kappa J_{1} > 0$. Using various AFM classical ground states as CCM model states we present results for their gs energy, average on-site magnetization, and susceptibilities to plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) and crossed-dimer valence-bond crystal (CDVBC) ordering. We show that the state with Neel ordering is the gs phase for $\kappa < \kappa_{c_1} \approx 0.80 \pm 0.01$, but that none of the fourfold set of AFM states selected by quantum fluctuations at $O(1/s)$ in a large-$s$ analysis (where $s$ is the spin quantum number) from the infinitely degenerate set of AFM states that form the gs phase for the classical version of the model (for $\kappa>1$) survives the quantum fluctuations to form a stable magnetically-ordered gs phase for the spin-half case. The Neel state becomes susceptible to PVBC ordering at or very near to $\kappa = \kappa_{c_1}$, and the fourfold AFM states become infinitely susceptible to PVBC ordering at $\kappa = \kappa_{c_2} \approx 1.22 \pm 0.02$. In turn, we find that these states become infinitely susceptible to CDVBC ordering for all values of $\kappa$ above a certain critical value at or very near to $\kappa = \kappa_{c_2}$. We thus find a Neel-ordered gs phase for $\kappa<\kappa_{c_1}$, a PVBC-ordered phase for $\kappa_{c_1} < \kappa < \kappa_{c_2}$, and a CDVBC-ordered phase for $\kappa > \kappa_{c_2}$. Both transitions are probably direct ones, although we cannot exclude very narrow coexistence regions confined to $0.79 \lesssim \kappa \lesssim 0.81$ and $1.20 \lesssim \kappa \lesssim 1.22$ respectively.

The frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice: J1–J2 model

We study the ground-state phase diagram of the frustrated spin- antiferromagnet with J2 = xJ1 > 0 (J1 > 0) on the honeycomb lattice, using the coupled-cluster method. We present results for the ground-state energy, magnetic order parameter and plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) susceptibility. We find a paramagnetic PVBC phase for xc1 < x < xc2, where xc1 ≈ 0.207 ± 0.003 and xc2 ≈ 0.385 ± 0.010. The transition at xc1 to the Néel phase seems to be a continuous deconfined transition (although we cannot exclude a very narrow intermediate phase in the range 0.21 ≲ x ≲ 0.24), while that at xc2 is of first-order type to another quasiclassical antiferromagnetic phase that occurs in the classical version of the model only at the isolated and highly degenerate critical point . The spiral phases that are present classically for all values are absent for all x ≲ 1.

Ground-state phases of the frustrated spin-12J1–J2–J3Heisenberg ferromagnet (J1&lt;0) on the honeycomb lattice withJ3=J2&gt;0

We study the ground-state (gs) properties of the frustrated spin-1/2 $J_{1}$--$J_{2}$--$J_{3}$ Heisenberg model on a honeycomb lattice with ferromagnetic (FM) nearest-neighbor ($J_{1}=-1$) exchange and frustrating antiferromagnetic (AFM) next-nearest-neighbor ($J_{2}>0$) and next-next-nearest-neighbor ($J_{3}>0$) exchanges, for the case $J_{3}=J_{2}$. We use the coupled cluster method in high orders of approximation, complemented by the exact diagonalization of a lattice with 32 sites, and calculate the gs energy, magnetic order parameter, and spin-spin correlation functions. We find a quantum phase transition between regions characterized by FM order and a form of AFM ("striped") collinear order at $J^{c}_{2} \approx 0.1095 \pm 0.0005$. We compare results for the FM case (with $J_{1}=-1$) to previous results for the corresponding AFM case (with $J_{1}=+1$). While the magnetic order parameters behave similarly for the FM and the AFM models for large values of the frustration parameter $J_{2}$, there are considerable differences between them for $J_{2}/|J_{1}| \lesssim 0.6$. For example, the quasiclassical collinear magnetic long-range order for the AFM model (with $J_{1}=+1$) breaks down at $J^{c_{2}}_{2} \approx 0.60$, whereas the "equivalent" point for the FM model (with $J_{1}=-1$) occurs at $J^{c}_{2} \approx 0.11$. Unlike in the AFM model (with $J_{1}=+1$), where a plaquette valence-bond crystal phase intrudes between the two corresponding quasiclassical AFM phases (with N\'eel and striped order) for $J^{c_{1}}_{2} < J_{2} < J^{c_{2}}_{2}$, with $J^{c_{1}}_{2} \approx 0.47$, we find no clear indications in the FM model for an intermediate magnetically disordered phase between the phases exhibiting FM and striped order. Instead, the evidence points strongly to a direct first-order transition between the two ordered phases of the FM model.

Frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice: A candidate for deconfined quantum criticality

We study the ground-state (gs) phase diagram of the frustrated spin-1/2 $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$-$J_{3}$ antiferromagnet with $J_{2} = J_{3} =\kappa J_1$ on the honeycomb lattice, using coupled-cluster theory and exact diagonalization methods. We present results for the gs energy, magnetic order parameter, spin-spin correlation function, and plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) susceptibility. We find a N\'eel antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase for $\kappa < \kappa_{c_{1}} \approx 0.47$, a collinear striped AFM phase for $\kappa > \kappa_{c_{2}} \approx 0.60$, and a paramagnetic PVBC phase for $\kappa_{c_{1}} \lesssim \kappa \lesssim \kappa_{c_{2}}$. The transition at $\kappa_{c_{2}}$ appears to be of first-order type, while that at $\kappa_{c_{1}}$ is continuous. Since the N\'eel and PVBC phases break different symmetries our results favor the deconfinement scenario for the transition at $\kappa_{c_{1}}$.

Exploring frustrated spin systems using projected entangled pair states

We study the nature of the ground state of the frustrated ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ model and the ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{3}$ model using a variational algorithm based on projected entangled pair states. By investigating spin-spin correlation functions, we observe a separation in parameter regions with long- and short-range order. A direct comparison with exact diagonalizations in the subspace of short-range valence bond singlets reveals that the system is well described by states within this subset in the short-range order regions. We discuss the question whether the system forms a spin liquid, a plaquette valence bond crystal, or a columnar dimer crystal in these parameter regions.

Instability of plaquette valence-bond crystal phase in planar pyrochlore electron system

We study a geometrically frustrated Hubbard model on the checkerboard lattice with nearest neighbor ( t) and diagonal ( t ′ ) hoppings. By using the path-integral renormalization group method, we calculate the double occupancy and the plaquette singlet correlation function to discuss the instability of the plaquette valence-bond crystal (P-VBC) phase at half filling. It is found that the increase of Coulomb interaction induces a first-order Mott transition to the plaquette singlet insulating (PSI) phase for t ′ / t = 1.0 , which naturally leads to the P-VBC phase in the Heisenberg limit. For t ′ / t = 0.8 , the double quantum phase transitions occur, and the PSI phase is stabilized between paramagnetic metallic and antiferromagnetic insulating phase.

One-dimensional behavior and sliding Luttinger liquid phase in a frustrated spin-12crossed chain model: Contribution of exact diagonalizations

Exact diagonalizations indicate that the effective 1-dimensional behavior (sliding Luttinger liquid phase) of the frustrated spin-1/2 crossed chain model, predicted by Starykh, Singh and Levine [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 167203 (2002)], persists for a wide range of transverse couplings. The extension of the other phases (plaquette valence bond crystal and N\'eel long range order) is precised. No clear indication of a coexistence of these two phases is found, at variance with a suggestion of Sachdev and Park (cond-mat/0108214).