Quantum Spin Lattice Research Articles

Thermodyamic Bounds on Drude Weights in Terms of Almost-conserved Quantities

We consider one-dimensional translationally invariant quantum spin (or fermionic) lattices and prove a Mazur-type inequality bounding the time-averaged thermodynamic limit of a finite-temperature expectation of a spatio-temporal autocorrelation function of a local observable in terms of quasi-local conservation laws with open boundary conditions. Namely, the commutator between the Hamiltonian and the conservation law of a finite chain may result in boundary terms only. No reference to techniques used in Suzuki’s proof of Mazur bound is made (which strictly applies only to finite-size systems with exact conservation laws), but Lieb-Robinson bounds and exponential clustering theorems of quasi-local C* quantum spin algebras are invoked instead. Our result has an important application in the transport theory of quantum spin chains, in particular it provides rigorous non-trivial examples of positive finite-temperature spin Drude weight in the anisotropic Heisenberg XXZ spin 1/2 chain (Prosen, in Phys Rev Lett 106:217206, 2011).

Schrieffer–Wolff transformation for quantum many-body systems

The Schrieffer–Wolff (SW) method is a version of degenerate perturbation theory in which the low-energy effective Hamiltonian H eff is obtained from the exact Hamiltonian by a unitary transformation decoupling the low-energy and high-energy subspaces. We give a self-contained summary of the SW method with a focus on rigorous results. We begin with an exact definition of the SW transformation in terms of the so-called direct rotation between linear subspaces. From this we obtain elementary proofs of several important properties of H eff such as the linked cluster theorem. We then study the perturbative version of the SW transformation obtained from a Taylor series representation of the direct rotation. Our perturbative approach provides a systematic diagram technique for computing high-order corrections to H eff . We then specialize the SW method to quantum spin lattices with short-range interactions. We establish unitary equivalence between effective low-energy Hamiltonians obtained using two different versions of the SW method studied in the literature. Finally, we derive an upper bound on the precision up to which the ground state energy of the n th-order effective Hamiltonian approximates the exact ground state energy.

Non-locality of non-Abelian anyons

Entangled states of quantum systems can give rise to measurement correlations of separated observers that cannot be described by local hidden variable theories. Usually, it is assumed that entanglement between particles is generated due to some distance-dependent interaction. Yet anyonic particles in two dimensions have a nontrivial interaction that is purely topological in nature. In other words, it does not depend on the distance between two particles, but rather on their exchange history. The information encoded in anyons is inherently non-local even in the single subsystem level making the treatment of anyons non-conventional. We describe a protocol to reveal the non-locality of anyons in terms of correlations in the outcomes of measurements in two separated regions. This gives a clear operational measure of non-locality for anyonic states and it opens up the possibility to test Bell inequalities in quantum Hall liquids or spin lattices.

String Order and Symmetries in Quantum Spin Lattices

We show that the existence of string order in a given quantum state is intimately related to the presence of a local symmetry by proving that both concepts are equivalent within the framework of finitely correlated states. Once this connection is established, we provide a complete characterization of local symmetries in these states. The results allow us to understand in a straightforward way many of the properties of string order parameters, like their robustness or fragility under perturbations and their typical disappearance beyond strictly one-dimensional lattices. We propose and discuss an alternative definition, ideally suited for detecting phase transitions, and generalizations to two and more spatial dimensions.

High-order coupled cluster calculations via parallel processing: An illustration forCaV4O9

The coupled cluster method (CCM) is a method of quantum many-body theory that may provide accurate results for the ground-state properties of lattice quantum spin systems even in the presence of strong frustration and for lattices of arbitrary spatial dimensionality. Here we present a significant extension of the method by introducing an approach that allows an efficient parallelization of computer codes that carry out high-order CCM calculations. We find that we are able to extend such CCM calculations by an order of magnitude higher than ever before utilized in a high-order CCM calculation for an antiferromagnet. Furthermore we use only a relatively modest number of processors, namely, eight. Such very high-order CCM calculations are possible only by using such a parallelized approach. An illustration of the new approach is presented for the ground-state properties of a magnetic material, ${\mathrm{CaV}}_{4}{\mathrm{O}}_{9}$.

Structural distortions of frustrated quantum spin lattices in high magnetic fields

AbstractWe study the stability of some strongly frustrated antiferromagnetic spin lattices in high magnetic fields against lattice distortions. In particular, we consider a spin‐s anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square‐kagomé and kagomé lattices. The independent localized magnons embedded in a ferromagnetic environment, which are the ground state at the saturation field, imply lattice instabilities for appropriate lattice distortions fitting to the structure of the localized magnons. We discuss in detail the scenario of this spin‐Peierls instability in high magnetic fields which essentially depends on the values of the exchange interaction anisotropy Δ and spin s. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Localized-magnon states in strongly frustrated quantum spin lattices

Recent developments concerning localized-magnon eigenstates in strongly frustrated spin lattices and their effect on the low-temperature physics of these systems in high magnetic fields are reviewed. After illustrating the construction and the properties of localized-magnon states we describe the plateau and the jump in the magnetization process caused by these states. Considering appropriate lattice deformations fitting to the localized magnons we discuss a spin-Peierls instability in high magnetic fields related to these states. Last but not least we consider the degeneracy of the localized-magnon eigenstates and the related thermodynamics in high magnetic fields. In particular, we discuss the low-temperature maximum in the isothermal entropy versus field curve and the resulting enhanced magnetocaloric effect, which allows efficient magnetic cooling from quite large temperatures down to very low ones.

Finite low-temperature entropy of some strongly frustrated quantum spin lattices in the vicinity of the saturation field

For a class of highly frustrated antiferromagnetic quantum spin lattices the ground state exhibits a huge degeneracy in high magnetic fields due to the existence of localized magnon states. For some of these spin lattices (in particular, the 1D dimer-plaquette, sawtooth and kagom\'{e}-like chains as well as the 2D kagom\'{e} lattice) we calculate rigorously the ground-state entropy at the saturation field. We find that the ground-state entropy per site remains finite at saturation. This residual ground-state entropy produces a maximum in the field dependence of the isothermal entropy at low temperatures. By numerical calculation of the field dependence of the low-temperature entropy for the sawtooth chain we find that the enhancement of isothermal entropy is robust against small deviations in exchange constants. Moreover, the effect is most pronounced in the extreme quantum case of spin 1/2.

Magnetic-field induced spin-Peierls instability in strongly frustrated quantum spin lattices.

For a class of frustrated antiferromagnetic spin lattices (in particular, the square-kagomé and kagomé lattices) we discuss the impact of recently discovered exact eigenstates on the stability of the lattice against distortions. These eigenstates consist of independent localized magnons embedded in a ferromagnetic environment and become ground states in high magnetic fields. For appropriate lattice distortions fitting to the structure of the localized magnons the lowering of magnetic energy can be calculated exactly and is proportional to the displacement of atoms leading to a spin-Peierls lattice instability. Since these localized states are present only for high magnetic fields, this instability might be driven by magnetic-field. The hysteresis of the spin-Peierls transition is also discussed.

Macroscopic magnetization jumps due to independent magnons in frustrated quantum spin lattices.

For a class of frustrated spin lattices including the Kagomé lattice we construct exact eigenstates consisting of several independent, localized one-magnon states and argue that they are ground states for high magnetic fields. If the maximal number of local magnons scales with the number of spins in the system, which is the case for the Kagomé lattice, the effect persists in the thermodynamic limit and gives rise to a macroscopic jump in the zero-temperature magnetization curve just below the saturation field. The effect decreases with increasing spin quantum number and vanishes in the classical limit. Thus it is a true macroscopic quantum effect.

On Algebraic Integrability of the Deformed Elliptic Calogero-Moser Problem

We discuss stationary solutions of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation (DNSE) with a potential of the ϕ 4 type which is generically applicable to several quantum spin, electron and classical lattice systems. We show that there may arise chaotic spatial structures in the form of incommensurate or irregular quantum states. As a first (typical) example we consider a single electron which is strongly coupled with phonons on a 1D chain of atoms — the (Rashba)–Holstein polaron model. In the adiabatic approximation this system is conventionally described by the DNSE. Another relevant example is that of superconducting states in layered superconductors described by the same DNSE. Amongst many other applications the typical example for a classical lattice is a system of coupled nonlinear oscillators. We present the exact energy spectrum of this model in the strong coupling limit and the corresponding wave function. Using this as a starting point we go on to calculate the wave function for moderate coupling and find that the energy eigenvalue of these structures of the wave function is in exquisite agreement with the exact strong coupling result. This procedure allows us to obtain (numerically) exact solutions of the DNSE directly. When applied to our typical example we find that the wave function of an electron on a deformable lattice (and other quantum or classical discrete systems) may exhibit incommensurate and irregular structures. These states are analogous to the periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic structures found in classical chaotic dynamics.

Fractal and Chaotic Solutions of the Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation in Classical and Quantum Systems

We discuss stationary solutions of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation (DNSE) with a potential of the ϕ 4 type which is generically applicable to several quantum spin, electron and classical lattice systems. We show that there may arise chaotic spatial structures in the form of incommensurate or irregular quantum states. As a first (typical) example we consider a single electron which is strongly coupled with phonons on a 1D chain of atoms — the (Rashba)–Holstein polaron model. In the adiabatic approximation this system is conventionally described by the DNSE. Another relevant example is that of superconducting states in layered superconductors described by the same DNSE. Amongst many other applications the typical example for a classical lattice is a system of coupled nonlinear oscillators. We present the exact energy spectrum of this model in the strong coupling limit and the corresponding wave function. Using this as a starting point we go on to calculate the wave function for moderate coupling and find that the energy eigenvalue of these structures of the wave function is in exquisite agreement with the exact strong coupling result. This procedure allows us to obtain (numerically) exact solutions of the DNSE directly. When applied to our typical example we find that the wave function of an electron on a deformable lattice (and other quantum or classical discrete systems) may exhibit incommensurate and irregular structures. These states are analogous to the periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic structures found in classical chaotic dynamics.

High-ordercoupled cluster method calculations for the ground- andexcited-state properties of the spin-half XXZ model

In this article, we present new results of high-order coupledcluster method (CCM) calculations, based on a Néel model statewith spins aligned in the z-direction, for both the ground- andexcited-state properties of the spin-half XXZ model on thelinear chain, the square lattice, and the simple cubic lattice. Inparticular, the high-order CCM formalism is extended to treat theexcited states of lattice quantum spin systems for the first time.Completely new results for the excitation energy gap of thespin-half XXZ model for these lattices are thus determined.These high-order calculations are based on a localized approximationscheme called the LSUBm scheme in which we retain all k-bodycorrelations defined on all possible locales of m adjacent latticesites (k⩽m). The `raw' CCM LSUBm results are seen toprovide very good results for the ground-state energy, sublatticemagnetization, and the value of the lowest-lying excitation energyfor each of these systems. However, in order to obtain even betterresults, two types of scheme for extrapolating the LSUBm results tothe limit m→∞ (i.e., the exact solution in thethermodynamic limit) are presented. The extrapolated resultsprovide extremely accurate results for the ground- and excited-stateproperties of these systems across a wide range of values of theanisotropy parameter.

MARKOVIAN KMS-STATES FOR ONE-DIMENSIONAL SPIN CHAINS

We characterize a class of quantum Markov states in terms of a locality property of their modular automorphism group or, equivalently, of their φ-conditional expectations and we give an explicit description of the structure of these states. This study is meant as a starting point for the investigation of the structure of Markovian KMS-states of quantum spin chains as well as of multidimensional quantum spin lattices.

AB INITIO CALCULATIONS FOR THE SQUARE-LATTICE ANISOTROPIC HEISENBERG MODEL

Interest in lattice quantum spin systems as models of quantum magnets has increased with the discovery of new and interesting magnetic materials. Here we use a well-known technique of quantum many-body theory, namely the coupled-cluster method (CCM), to investigate the nearest-neighbour, spin-½, anisotropic Heisenberg model on the square lattice. Ground-state expectation values for quantities such as the ground-state energy and the sublattice magnetisation are determined to an accuracy comparable with that of the best of other available techniques including Monte Carlo methods. In order to demonstrate this point we present results for various values of the anisotropy parameter, including those for the isotropic Heisenberg model and the isotropic XY model. We show that it is now possible to determine the presence and position of the quantum phase transitions using ab initio CCM calculations, and furthermore that we can accurately predict the critical behaviour at these points.

An ab initio coupled cluster theory of quantum spin lattices and their quantum critical behaviour

Strongly interacting quantum spin–lattice models exhibit a wide variety of phases with diverse and subtle magnetic ordering properties. Their detailed description within a unified microscopic framework poses a real challenge for the many-body theorist. By specific application to the spin-½ anisotropic Heisenberg model on a square lattice, we show how the ab initio coupled cluster method, which has already been very successfully applied to a wide variety of quantum many-body and field-theoretic systems, may be very efficiently and systematically implemented for spin–lattice models. Results for such local properties as the ground-state energy and sublattice magnetization are thereby obtained which are on a par with those from the best of the available alternative methods. Furthermore, we demonstrate explicitly how the coupled cluster method now also provides an effective and fully microscopic tool to yield systematic and accurate estimates of the zero-temperature quantum phase transition boundaries between states of different quantum order, as well as of the critical behaviour of the system in the vicinity of the transition points.

An ab initio coupled cluster theory of quantum spin lattices and their quantum critical behaviour

An ab initio coupled cluster theory of quantum spin lattices and their quantum critical behaviour

The usefulness of restrictions for variational ground state lower bounds of a simple quantum spin lattice

We utilize reduced density matrices and restrictions upon them to obtain variational lower bounds to the ground state energy of the transverse Ising model. A systematic use of restrictions on a cluster representation (like 3 or 4 sites) of the system in 1, 2, and infinite dimensions, shows that a small class of conditions is sufficient to yield good results for little effort. The technique is analytically straightforward, and is clearly a promising direction to go for ground state energy bounds of quantum lattices with short range interactions.

An overview of coupled cluster theory and its applications in physics

What has since become known as the normal coupled cluster method (NCCM) was invented about thirty years ago to calculate ground-state energies of closed-shell atomic nuclei. Coupled cluster (CC) techniques have since been developed to calculate excited states, energies of open-shell systems, density matrices and hence other properties, sum rules, and the sub-sum-rules that follow from imbedding linear response theory within the NCCM. Further extensions deal both with systems at nonzero temperature and with general dynamical behaviour. More recently, a new version of CC theory, the so-called extended coupled cluster method (ECCM) has been introduced. It has the potential to describe such global phenomena as phase transitions, spontaneous symmetry breaking, states of topological excitation, and nonequilibrium behaviour. CC techniques are now widely recognized as providing one of the most universally applicable, most powerful, and most accurate of all microscopicab initio methods in quantum many-body theory. The number of successful applications within physics is now impressively large. In most such cases the numerical results are either the best or among the best available. A typical case is the electron gas, where the CC results for the correlation energy agree over the entire metallic density range to within less than 1 millihartree (or <1%) with the essentially exact Green's function Monte Carlo results. The role of CC theory within modern quantum many-body theory is first surveyed, by a comparison with other techniques. Its full range of applications in physics is then reviewed. These include problems in nuclear physics, both for finite nuclei and infinite nuclear matter; the electron gas; various integrable and nonintegrable models; various relativistic quantum field theories; and quantum spin chain and lattice models. Particular applications of the ECCM include the quantum hydrodynamics of a zero-temperature, strongly-interacting condensed Bose fluid; a charged impurity in a polarizable medium (e.g., positron annihilation in metals); and various anharmonic oscillator and spin systems.

A coupled-cluster study of the ground-state energy and properties of an anisotropic quantum spin lattice model exhibiting antiferromagnetism in various phases

We extend the domain of applicability of the coupled-cluster method (CCM) to include quantum-mechanical spin-1/2 systems on discrete lattices. We study the specific case of anisotropic antiferromagnetic interactions described by the nearest-neighbour XXZ-model Hamiltonian. The isotropic version of this model on a two-dimensional (2-d) square lattice is of great current interest as a possible description of the interactions between the electrons in the singly-occupied $$d_{x^2 - y^2 } $$ orbitals on the copper atoms in the ceramic copper oxide materials displaying high-temperature superconductivity. Although very few exact results are known for the 2-d XXZ-model, its 1-d counterpart has been exactly solved by Bethe-ansatz techniques, and we therefore use it here as a benchmark for our new CCM techniques. Even starting with the classical Neel state as the model reference state, we find that the CCM is capable at relatively low levels of truncation of giving accurate values for the ground-state energies. In this regard, we discuss several new CCM truncation hierarchies which have not previously been applied to either atoms and molecules or continuous extended systems. Furthermore, the method gives a good qualitative description of most of the known or anticipated behaviour of the correlation functions, order parameters, and elementary excitations over an entire (zero-temperature) phase, right up to the transition point, as the anisotropy is varied.