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Johannes Richter

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Richter.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Universal low-temperature behavior of frustrated quantum antiferromagnets in the vicinity of the saturation field

We study the low-temperature thermodynamic properties of a number of frustrated quantum antiferromagnets which support localized magnon states in the vicinity of the saturation field. For this purpose we use 1) a mapping of the low-energy degrees of freedom of spin systems onto the hard-core object lattice gases and 2) an exact diagonalization of finite spin systems of up to N=30 sites. The considered spin systems exhibit universal behavior which is determined by a specific hard-core object lattice gas representing the independent localized magnon states. We test the lattice gas description by comparing its predictions with the numerical results for low-lying energy states of finite spin systems. For all frustrated spin systems considered we find a strong variation of the low-temperature specific heat passing the saturation field and a maximum in the isothermal entropy at saturation field resulting in an enhanced magnetocaloric effect.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Structural distortions of frustrated quantum spin lattices in high magnetic fields

We 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 Δand spin s.

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Structural instability of two- and three-dimensional pyrochlore spin lattices in high magnetic fields

We consider the quantum spin-$s$ $XXZ$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the two- and three-dimensional pyrochlore lattices and examine a spin-Peierls mechanism of lowering the total energy by a lattice distortion in a high magnetic field. For the exact eigenstates consisting of several independent localized magnons in a ferromagnetic environment we show the existence of a spin-Peierls instability by rigorous analytical calculations. In addition we report on exact diagonalization data for finite two-dimensional pyrochlore lattices up to N=64 sites. We discuss a scenario of the field-tuned changes in the ground-state properties of the frustrated spin lattices due to the coupling between spin and lattice degrees of freedom.

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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.

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Regularly alternating spin-1/2 anisotropic XY chains: The ground-state and thermodynamic properties

Using the Jordan-Wigner transformation and continued fractions we calculate rigorously the thermodynamic quantities for the spin-1/2 transverse Ising chain with periodically varying intersite interactions and/or on-site fields. We consider in detail the properties of the chains having a period of the transverse field modulation equal to 3. The regularly alternating transverse Ising chain exhibits several quantum phase transition points, where the number of transition points for a given period of alternation strongly depends on the specific set of the Hamiltonian parameters. The critical behavior in most cases is the same as for the uniform chain. However, for certain sets of the Hamiltonian parameters the critical behavior may be changed and weak singularities in the ground-state quantities appear. Due to the regular alternation of the Hamiltonian parameters the transverse Ising chain may exhibit plateau-like steps in the zero-temperature dependence of the transverse magnetization vs. transverse field and many-peak temperature profiles of the specific heat. We compare the ground-state properties of regularly alternating transverse Ising and transverse XX chains and of regularly alternating quantum and classical chains. Making use of the corresponding unitary transformations we extend the elaborated approach to the study of thermodynamics of regularly alternating spin-1/2 anisotropic XY chains without field. We use the exact expression for the ground-state energy of such a chain of period 2 to discuss how the exchange interaction anisotropy destroys the spin-Peierls dimerized phase.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

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 kagomé-like chains as well as the 2D kagomé 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.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

The anisotropic quantum antiferromagnet on the Sierpinski gasket: Ground state and thermodynamics

We investigate an antiferromagnetic s=1/2 quantum spin system with anisotropic spin exchange on a fractal lattice, the Sierpinski gasket. We introduce a novel approximative numerical method, the configuration selective diagonalization (CSD) and apply this method to the Sierpinski gasket with N=42. Using this and other methods we calculate ground state energies, spin gap, spin-spin correlations and specific heat data and conclude that the s=1/2 quantum antiferromagnet on the Sierpinski gasket shows a disordered magnetic ground state with a very short correlation length of about 1 and an, albeit very small, spin gap. This conclusion holds for Heisenberg as well a for XY exchange.

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Square-lattice s=1/2 XY model and the Jordan-Wigner fermions: The ground-state and thermodynamic properties

Using the 2D Jordan-Wigner transformation we reformulate the square-lattice s=1/2 XY (XZ) model in terms of noninteracting spinless fermions and examine the ground-state and thermodynamic properties of this spin system. We consider the model with two types of anisotropy: the spatial anisotropy interpolating between 2D and 1D lattices and the anisotropy of the exchange interaction interpolating between isotropic XY and Ising interactions. We compare the obtained (approximate) results with exact ones (1D limit, square-lattice Ising model) and other approximate ones (linear spin-wave theory and exact diagonalization data for finite lattices of up to N=36 sites supplemented by finite-size scaling). We discuss the ground-state and thermodynamic properties in dependence on the spatial and exchange interaction anisotropies. We pay special attention to the quantum phase transition driven by the exchange interaction anisotropy as well as to the appearance/disappearance of the zero-temperature magnetization in the quasi-1D limit.

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Quantum phase transitions in alternating transverse Ising chains: Rigorous analytical and exact numerical results

We examine the ground state properties of the s=1/2 transverse Ising chain with regularly alternating bonds and fields using exact analytical results and exact numerical data for long (up to N=900) and short (N=20) chains. For a given period of alternation the system may exhibit a series of quantum phase transitions, where the number of transitions depends on the concrete set of the parameters of the Hamiltonian. The critical behaviour for the nonuniform and the uniform chain is the same.

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Quantum phase transitions in the J-J' Heisenberg and XY spin-1/2 antiferromagnets on square lattice: Finite-size scaling analysis

We investigate the critical parameters of an order-disorder quantum phase transitions in the spin-1/2 $J-J'$ Heisenberg and XY antiferromagnets on square lattice. Basing on the excitation gaps calculated by exact diagonalization technique for systems up to 32 spins and finite-size scaling analysis we estimate the critical couplings and exponents of the correlation length for both models. Our analysis confirms the universal critical behavior of these quantum phase transitions: They belong to 3D O(3) and 3D O(2) universality classes, respectively.

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The quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the Sierpinski Gasket: An exact diagonalization study

We present an exact diagonalization study of the quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the fractal Sierpinski gasket for spin quantum numbers s=1/2,s=1 and s=3/2. Since the fractal dimension of the Sierpinski gasket is between one and two we compare the results with corresponding data of one- and two-dimensional systems. By analyzing the ground-state energy, the low-lying spectrum, the spin-spin correlation and the low-temperature thermodynamics we find arguments, that the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the Sierpinski gasket is probably disordered not only in the extreme quantum case s=1/2 but also for s=1 and s=3/2. Moreover, in contrast to the one-dimensional chain we do not find a distinct behavior between the half-integer and integer-spin Heisenberg models on the Sierpinski gasket. We conclude that magnetic disorder may appear due to the interplay of frustration and strong quantum fluctuations in this spin system with spatial dimension between one and two.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Influence of quantum fluctuations on zero-temperature phase transitions between collinear and noncollinear states in frustrated spin systems

We study a square-lattice spin-half Heisenberg model where frustration is introduced by competing nearest-neighbor bonds of different signs. We discuss the influence of quantum fluctuations on the nature of the zero-temperature phase transitions from phases with collinear magnetic order at small frustration to phases with noncollinear spiral order at large frustration. We use the coupled cluster method (CCM) for high orders of approximation (up to LSUB6) and the exact diagonalization of finite systems (up to 32 sites) to calculate ground-state properties. The role of quantum fluctuations is examined by comparing the ferromagnetic-spiral and the antiferromagnetic-spiral transition within the same model. We find clear evidence that quantum fluctuations prefer collinear order and that they may favour a first order transition instead of a second order transition in case of no quantum fluctuations.

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Local magnetic properties of periodic nonuniform spin-1/2 XX chains

Using the Jordan-Wigner fermionization, Green function approach and continued fractions we examine rigorously the local magnetizations and the local static susceptibilities of the spin-1/2 XX chain in a transverse field with regularly varying exchange interactions. We discuss our findings from a viewpoint of the strong-coupling approach.

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Marshall-Peierls sign rule in frustrated Heisenberg chains

We consider the frustrated antiferromagnetic s=1 Heisenberg quantum spin chain with regard to the Marshall-Peierls sign rule (MPSR). By using exact diagonalization data we investigate the breakdown of the MPSR in dependence on frustration and compare our findings with data for s=1/2. We calculate a critical value of frustration J_2(crit) where the MPSR is violated. The extrapolation of this value to the infinite chain limit holds J_2(crit) approx. 0.016, lower than in the case of s=1/2 (J_2(crit) approx. 0.027). This points to a stronger influence of frustration in the case of s=1. Nevertheless the calculation of the weight of the Ising-states violating the MPSR shows that the MPSR holds approximately even for quite large frustration and may be used for numerical techniques.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Quantum Phase Transitions of a Square-Lattice Heisenberg Antiferromagnet with Two Kinds of Nearest-Neighbour Bonds: A High-Order Coupled-Cluster Treatment

We study the zero-temperature phase diagram and the low-lying excitations of a square-lattice spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnet with two types of regularly distributed nearest-neighbour exchange bonds (J>0 (antiferromagnetic) and J'>0, J'<0) using the coupled cluster method (CCM) for high orders of approximation (up to LSUB8). We use a Neel model state as well as a helical model state as a starting point for the CCM calculations. We find a second-order transition from a phase with Neel order to a finite-gap quantum disordered phase for sufficiently large antiferromagnetic exchange constants J'>0. For frustrating ferromagnetic couplings J'<0 we find indications that quantum fluctuations favour a first-order phase transition from the Neel order to a quantum helical state, by contrast with the corresponding second-order transition in the corresponding classical model. The results are compared to those of exact diagonalizations of finite systems (up to 32 sites) and those of spin-wave and variational calculations. The CCM results agree well with the exact diagonalization data over the whole range of the parameters. The special case of J'=0, which is equivalent to the honeycomb lattice, is treated more closely.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Diagonalization of a bosonic quadratic form using CCM: Application on a system with two interpenetrating square lattice antiferromagnets

While the diagonalization of a quadratic bosonic form can always be done using a Bogoliubov transformation, the practical implementation for systems with a large number of different bosons is a tedious analytical task. Here we use the coupled cluster method (CCM) to exactly diagonalise such complicated quadratic forms. This yields to a straightforward algorithm which can easily be implemented using computer algebra even for a large number of different bosons. We apply this method on a Heisenberg system with two interpenetrating square lattice antiferromagnets, which is a model for the quasi 2D antiferromagnet Ba_2Cu_3O_4Cl_2. Using a four-magnon spin wave approximation we get a complicated Hamiltonian with four different bosons, which is treated with CCM. Results are presented for magnetic ground state correlations.

cond-mat↗

Thermodynamic properties of the periodic nonuniform spin-1/2 isotropic XY chains in a transverse field

Using the Jordan-Wigner transformation and the continued-fraction method we calculate exactly the density of states and thermodynamic quantities of the periodic nonuniform spin-1/2 isotropic XY chain in a transverse field. We discuss in detail the changes in the behaviour of the thermodynamic quantities caused by regular nonuniformity. The exact consideration of thermodynamics is extended including a random Lorentzian transverse field. The presented results are used to study the Peierls instability in a quantum spin chain. In particular, we examine the influence of a non-random/random field on the spin-Peierls instability with respect to dimerization.

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