We consider analytically and numerically an anisotropic $\text{spin}\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{2}$ delta chain (sawtooth chain) with nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions. For certain values of the interactions a lowest one-particle band becomes flat and there is a class of localized-magnon eigenstates which form a ground state with a macroscopic degeneracy. In this case the model depends on a single parameter which can be chosen as the anisotropy of the exchange interactions. When this parameter changes from zero to infinity the model interpolates between the one-dimensional isotropic ferromagnet and the frustrated Ising model on the delta chain. It is shown that the low-temperature thermodynamic properties in these limiting cases are governed by the specific structure of the excitation spectrum. In particular, the specific heat has one or infinite number of low-temperature maxima for the small or the large anisotropy parameter, correspondingly. Qualitative features of such behavior survive when the interaction parameters deviate from the relations providing the local magnon ground state.
In contrast to strongly frustrated classical systems, their quantum counterparts typically have a non-degenerate ground state. A counterexample is the celebrated Heisenberg sawtooth spin chain with ferromagnetic zigzag bonds
J1 and competing antiferromagnetic basal bonds
J2. At a quantum phase transition point
∣J2/J1∣=1/2, this model exhibits a flat one-magnon excitation band leading to a massively degenerate ground-state manifold which results in a large residual entropy. Thus, for the spin-half model, the residual entropy amounts to exactly one half of its maximum value
limT→∞S(T)/N=ln2. In the present paper we study in detail the role of the spin quantum number
s and the magnetic field
H in the parameter region around the transition (flat-band) point. For that we use full exact diagonalization up to
N=20 lattice sites and the finite-temperature Lanczos method up to
N=36 sites to calculate the density of states as well as the temperature dependence of the specific heat, the entropy and the susceptibility. The study of chain lengths up to
N=36 allows a careful finite-size analysis. At the flat-band point we find extremely small finite-size effects for spin
s=1/2, i.e., the numerical data virtually correspond to the thermodynamic limit. In all other cases the finite-size effects are still small and become visible at very low temperatures. In a sizeable parameter region around the flat-band point the former massively degenerate ground-state manifold acts as a large manifold of low-lying excitations leading to extraordinary thermodynamic properties at the transition point as well as in its vicinity such as an additional low-temperature maximum in the specific heat. Moreover, there is a very strong influence of the magnetic field on the low-temperature thermodynamics including an enhanced magnetocaloric effect.
The spin-
21 Heisenberg diamond chain with ferro- and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions is studied. The phase boundary in the parametric space of these interactions is determined, where the transition between the ferromagnetic and other (singlet or ferrimagnetic) ground state phases occurs. On this phase boundary there is a dispersionless (flat) energy band in the one-magnon spectrum and these states can be represented as localized magnons in the trapping cells between neighboring diamonds. The ground state consists of the localized magnons and special magnon complexes and it is macroscopically degenerate. A remarkable feature of the model is the existence, on a certain part of the phase boundary, of two- and three-magnon localized states, forming flat bands in two- and three-magnon spectrum. All these localized states also belong to the ground state manifold, which turns out to be exactly the same as for the system of independent spins-
23. This implies a large macroscopic degeneracy of the ground state
4n (
n is number of diamonds in the chain) and a high residual entropy per spin
s0=32ln2.
Background. Low-dimensional quantum magnets based on geometrically frustrated lattices are of considerable interest last time. As a typical example of such systems is the delta-chain which is a linear chain of triangles with spins on vertices. The delta-chain with AF exchange interactions is well studied and has a number of unusual properties. However, the same model with competing ferro (F)-and antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions is less studied. The purpose of this work is the study of the anisotropic F-AF delta-chain on the critical line separating different ground state phases, the calculation of the ground state degeneracy, residual entropy etc. Materials and methods. The study of this model is both analytically and numerically. It is proposed a method of construction of exact ground state wave functions and accounting of the number of ground ststes states in each spin sector. The analytical results are confirmed by numerical calculations of finite chains. Results. It is shown that the ground state manifold of the F-AF delta-chain on the critical line consists of localized magnons. Together with isolated magnons there are bound magnon complexes which give dominated contribution in ground state manifold in the thermodynamic limit. Conclusions. Spin systems with macroscopically degenerated ground state and with residual entropy demonstrate significant magnetocaloric effect. Taking into account great progress in a synthesis of frustrated magnets, it can be expected that real compounds of the FAF delta-chain type with parameters close to critical ones will be obtained and these compounds will be used for the construction of effective magnetocooling devices.
The antiferromagnetic ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ model is a spin-1/2 chain with isotropic exchange
J1>0 between first neighbors and ${J}_{2}=\ensuremath{\alpha}{J}_{1}$ between second neighbors. The model supports both gapless quantum phases with nondegenerate ground states and gapped phases with $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(\ensuremath{\alpha})>0$ and doubly degenerate ground states. Exact thermodynamics is limited to $\ensuremath{\alpha}=0$, the linear Heisenberg antiferromagnet (HAF). Exact diagonalization of small systems at frustration $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ followed by density matrix renormalization group calculations returns the entropy density $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha},N)$ and magnetic susceptibility $\ensuremath{\chi}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha},N)$ of progressively larger systems up to
N=96 or 152 spins. Convergence to the thermodynamic limit, $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ or $\ensuremath{\chi}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$, is demonstrated down to $T/J\ensuremath{\sim}0.01$ in the sectors $\ensuremath{\alpha}<1$ and $\ensuremath{\alpha}>1$. $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ yields the critical points between gapless phases with ${S}^{\ensuremath{'}}(0,\ensuremath{\alpha})>0$ and gapped phases with ${S}^{\ensuremath{'}}(0,\ensuremath{\alpha})=0$. The ${S}^{\ensuremath{'}}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ maximum at ${T}^{*}(\ensuremath{\alpha})$ is obtained directly in chains with large $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(\ensuremath{\alpha})$ and by extrapolation for small gaps. A phenomenological approximation for $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ down to
T=0 indicates power-law deviations ${T}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}(\ensuremath{\alpha})}$ from $exp[\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(\ensuremath{\alpha})/T]$ with exponent $\ensuremath{\gamma}(\ensuremath{\alpha})$ that increases with $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. The $\ensuremath{\chi}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ analysis also yields power-law deviations, but with exponent $\ensuremath{\eta}(\ensuremath{\alpha})$ that decreases with $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. Spin correlation functions account for $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ differences between frustration $\ensuremath{\alpha}<1$ within a chain and $\ensuremath{\alpha}>1$ between HAFs on sublattices. $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ and the spin density $\ensuremath{\rho}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})=4T\ensuremath{\chi}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ probe the thermal and magnetic fluctuations, respectively, of strongly correlated spin states. Gapless chains have constant $S(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})/\ensuremath{\rho}(T,\ensuremath{\alpha})$ for
T<0.10. Remarkably, the ratio decreases (increases) with
T in chains with large (small) $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(\ensuremath{\alpha})$.
Abstract A quantum spin model of a delta-chain with ferro- and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions has been analyzed. Special attention has been paid to the analysis of magnetic properties at the critical point that separates the ferro- and ferrimagnetic phases of the ground state. The ground state is macroscopically degenerate in this case, and the entropy at zero temperature is finite. The gap in the excitation spectrum is exponentially small, and the spectrum itself has a multiscale structure that determined the low-temperature thermodynamics. The results obtained are used to analyze the magnetic properties of recently synthesized molecules with a record-breaking spin value of the ground state.