We investigate the ground state phase diagram of the spin-
1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the star lattice using infinite projected entangled pair states (iPEPS) and high-order series expansions. The model includes two distinct couplings:
Jd on the dimer bonds and
Jt on the trimer bonds. While it is established that the system hosts a valence bond solid (VBS) phase for ${J}_{d}\ensuremath{\ge}{J}_{t}$, the ground state phase diagram for
Jd<Jt has remained unsettled. Our iPEPS simulations uncover a first-order phase transition at ${J}_{d}/{J}_{t}\ensuremath{\approx}0.18$, significantly lower than previously reported estimates. Beyond this transition, we identify a close competition between two valence bond crystal (VBC) states; a columnar VBC and a $\sqrt{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{3}$ VBC, with the latter consistently exhibiting lower energy across all finite bond dimensions. The high-order series expansion supports this by finding that the $\sqrt{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{3}$ VBC state indeed becomes energetically favorable, but only at sixth order in perturbation theory, revealing the subtle nature of the competition between candidate states.
We study the ground-state phase diagram of the spin-
1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the square-kagome lattice using infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS). By systematically varying the ratio of exchange couplings on triangular and square plaquettes, we establish a complete quantum phase diagram in the thermodynamic limit. In the intermediate-coupling regime, we identify four distinct nonmagnetic phases that are unambiguously characterized as valence-bond crystals (VBCs) by their symmetry-inequivalent patterns of strong and weak spin-spin correlations. These include a plaquette crossed-dimer VBC, a loop-six VBC stabilized around the isotropic point, a generalized pinwheel VBC with reduced rotational symmetry, and a decorated loop-six VBC proximate to ferrimagnetic order. We determine the phase boundaries using a combination of bond-resolved correlation functions, entanglement entropy, and magnetization. For transitions not accompanied by sharp entanglement signatures, we extract the spin gap from finite-field simulations, allowing us to distinguish gapped and gapless VBC phases. At larger coupling ratios, the system undergoes transitions into imperfect and perfect ferrimagnetic states. Our results resolve long-standing ambiguities in the square-kagome Heisenberg model and provide a quantitatively reliable reference for future theoretical and experimental studies of frustrated quantum magnets.
We calculate the bipartite von Neumann and second R\'enyi entanglement entropies of the ground states of spin-1/2 dimerized Heisenberg antiferromagnets on a square lattice. Two distinct dimerization patterns are considered: columnar and staggered. In both cases, we concentrate on the valence bond solid (VBS) phase and describe such a phase with the bond-operator representation. Within this formalism, the original spin Hamiltonian is mapped into an effective interacting boson model for the triplet excitations. We study the effective Hamiltonian at the harmonic approximation and determine the spectrum of the elementary triplet excitations. We then follow an analytical procedure, which is based on a modified spin-wave theory for finite systems and was originally employed to calculate the entanglement entropies of magnetic ordered phases, and calculate the entanglement entropies of the VBS ground states. In particular, we consider one-dimensional (line) subsystems within the square lattice, a choice that allows us to consider line subsystems with sizes up to ${L}^{\ensuremath{'}}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}1000$. We combine such a procedure with the results of the bond-operator formalism at the harmonic level and show that, for both dimerized Heisenberg models, the entanglement entropies of the corresponding VBS ground states obey an area law as expected for gapped phases. For both columnar-dimer and staggered-dimer models, we also show that the entanglement entropies increase but they seem to not diverge as the dimerization decreases and the system approaches the N\'eel-VBS quantum phase transition. Finally, the entanglement spectra associated with the VBS ground states are presented.
We construct an exact spin-
1 parent Hamiltonian for constrained valence-bond loop manifolds on the checkerboard and pyrochlore lattices. The Hamiltonian is local, SU(2)- and time-reversal-invariant, and built from positive-semidefinite projectors acting on triangular faces. Each projector removes only the maximally polarized state of a triangle, so the model is frustration-free. Its zero-energy states are generated by an AKLT-like construction in which each spin-
1 moment is resolved into two virtual spin-
21 degrees of freedom, singlets are formed inside every crossed plaquette or tetrahedron, and the physical spin-
1 Hilbert space is recovered by projection. The resulting ground states are fully packed singlet-loop states on the corner-sharing lattice. Thus, a loop or dimer constraint, usually introduced as part of an effective Rokhsar--Kivelson description, appears here as the exact zero-energy manifold of a microscopic spin Hamiltonian. We analyze spin correlations within this manifold and show that, for a fixed loop covering, they are determined by loop connectivity. We also project symmetry-allowed perturbations into the ground-state manifold and derive the resulting low-energy pseudospin dynamics. The checkerboard and pyrochlore cases differ sharply. On the pyrochlore lattice, tetrahedral symmetry removes simple local bias terms, and the leading nontrivial next-nearest-neighbour Heisenberg perturbation gives an emergent spin-
21 XY model on the diamond lattice of tetrahedron centers. These results give an exact spin-
1 microscopic starting point for constrained valence-bond physics in two and three dimensions, and show how loop, dimer, and gauge-theoretic descriptions can be approached from a small-spin, SU(2)-invariant frustrated magnet.
In systems with many local degrees of freedom, high-symmetry points in the phase diagram can provide an important starting point for the investigation of their properties throughout the phase diagram. In systems with both spin and orbital (or valley) degrees of freedom such a starting point gives rise to SU(4)-symmetric models. Here we consider SU(4)-symmetric "spin'' models, corresponding to Mott phases at half-filling, i.e. the six-dimensional representation of SU(4). This may be relevant to twisted multilayer graphene. In particular, we study the SU(4) antiferromagnetic "Heisenberg'' model on the triangular lattice, both in the classical limit and in the quantum regime. Carrying out a numerical study using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG), we argue that the ground state is non-magnetic. We then derive a dimer expansion of the SU(4) spin model. An exact diagonalization (ED) study of the effective dimer model suggests that the ground state breaks translation invariance, forming a valence bond solid (VBS) with a 12-site unit cell. Finally, we consider the effect of SU(4)-symmetry breaking interactions due to Hund's coupling, and argue for a possible phase transition between a VBS and a magnetically ordered state.
We study the
T=0 phase diagrams of models of bilayers of
S=1/2 square lattices antiferromagnets with SU(2) Heisenberg symmetry that have 2, 4, and 6 spin exchanges. We study two families of bilayer models with distinct internal symmetries and, hence, different phase diagram topologies. A traditional bilayer model in which the interlayer interaction is Heisenberg so that the two layers can exchange spin (and energy) with each other, making it possible to achieve a simple dimerized valence bond liquid-like state. The resulting phase diagram is rich with Néel, valence bond solid and simple dimer phases, and both first-order and continuous transitions, which we demonstrate are consistent with the conventional Landau theory of order parameters. In the second family of models in which the layers can exchange only energy but no spin (reminiscent of the Ashkin-Teller coupling), the simple dimer state cannot occur. The phase diagrams reveal a number of phase transitions that are accessed for the first time. We find that the phase transition between Néel and VBS is first order in both the spin-spin and energy-energy coupled models, although they have strikingly distinct finite-size scaling behavior and that the transition from VBS to dimer in the spin-spin coupling model deviates from the expected scenario of an XY model with dangerously irrelevant four-fold anisotropy.