The magnetization process, the susceptibility, and the specific heat of the spin-
1∕2 antiferromagnet (AF)-AF-ferromagnet (F) and F-F-AF trimerized quantum Heisenberg chains have been investigated by means of the transfer matrix renormalization group (TMRG) technique as well as the modified spin-wave (MSW) theory. A magnetization plateau at
m=1∕6 for both trimerized chains is observed at low temperature. The susceptibility and the specific heat show various behaviors for different ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions and in different magnetic fields. The TMRG results of susceptibility and the specific heat can be nicely fitted by a linear superposition of double two-level systems, where two fitting equations are proposed. Three branch excitations, one gapless excitation and two gapful excitations, for both systems are found within the MSW theory. It is observed that the MSW theory captures the main characteristics of the thermodynamic behaviors at low temperatures. The TMRG results are also compared with the possible experimental data.
The magnetic and thermodynamic properties of a ferrimagnetic decorated spin-
(21,1) Heisenberg chain with spin-1 pendant spins are investigated for three cases: (A)
J1,J2>0; (B)
J1>0 and
J2<0; and (C)
J1<0 and
J2>0, where
J1 and
J2 are the exchange couplings between spins in the chain and along the rung, respectively. The low-lying and magnetic properties are explored jointly by the real-space renormalization group, spin wave, and density-matrix renormalization-group methods, while the transfer-matrix renormalization-group method is invoked to study the thermodynamics. It is found that the magnon spectra consist of a gapless and two gapped branches. Two branches in case (C) have intersections. The coupling dependence of low-energy gaps are analyzed. In a magnetic field, a
m=23 (
m is the magnetization per unit cell) plateau is observed for case (A), while two plateaux at
m=21 and
23 are observed for cases (B) and (C). Between the two plateaux in cases (B) and (C), the sublattice magnetizations for the spins coupled by ferromagnetic interactions have decreasing regions with increasing the magnetic field. At finite temperature, the zero-field susceptibility temperature product $\ensuremath{\chi}T$ and specific heat exhibit distinct exotic features with varying the couplings and temperature for different cases. $\ensuremath{\chi}T$ is found to converge as $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$, which is different from the divergent behavior in the spin-
(21,1) mixed-spin chain without pendants. The observed thermodynamic behaviors are also discussed with the help of their low-lying excitations.