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

Abstract

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.