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arXiv:2005.12941 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Gapless spin liquid and valence-bond solid in the J1 - J2 Heisenberg model on the square lattice: Insights from singlet and triplet excitations

Francesco Ferrari, Federico Becca

Published Jul 10, 2020• 79 citations
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Abstract

The spin-$1/2$ ${J}_{1}$-${J}_{2}$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice represents one of the simplest examples in which the effects of magnetic interactions may suppress magnetic order, eventually leading to a pure quantum phase with no local order parameters. This model has been extensively studied in the last three decades, with conflicting results. Here, by using Gutzwiller-projected wave functions and recently developed methods to assess the low-energy spectrum, we show the existence of a level crossing between the lowest-energy triplet and singlet excitations for ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\approx}0.54$. This fact supports the existence of a phase transition between a gapless spin liquid (which is stable for $0.48\ensuremath{\lesssim}{J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.54$) and a valence-bond solid (for $0.54\ensuremath{\lesssim}{J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.6$), even though no clear sign of dimer order is visible in the correlations functions. These results, which confirm recent density-matrix renormalization calculations on cylindrical clusters [L. Wang and A. W. Sandvik, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 107202 (2018)], reconcile the contradicting results obtained within different approaches over the years.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.102.014417

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We perform an in-depth investigation of the phase diagram of the ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice. We take advantage of density matrix renormalization group and fully augmented matrix product states methods and reach unprecedented accuracy with large bond dimensions. We utilize excited-level crossing analysis to pinpoint the phase transition points. It was believed before that there exists a narrow spin liquid phase sandwiched by the N\'eel antiferromagnetic (AFM) and valence bond solid (VBS) phases. Through careful finite-size scaling of the level crossing points, we find a direct phase transition between the N\'eel AFM and VBS phases at J2/J1=0.535(3){J}_{2}/{J}_{1}=0.535(3)J2​/J1​=0.535(3), suggesting the absence of an intermediate spin liquid phase. We also provide accurate results for ground-state energies for a variety of sizes, from which we find that the transition between the N\'eel AFM and VBS phases is continuous. These results indicate the existence of a deconfined quantum critical point at J2/J1=0.535(3){J}_{2}/{J}_{1}=0.535(3)J2​/J1​=0.535(3) in the model. From the crossing of the first derivative of the energies with J2{J}_{2}J2​ for different sizes, we also determine the precise location of the first-order phase transition between the VBS and stripe AFM phases at J2/J1=0.610(5){J}_{2}/{J}_{1}=0.610(5)J2​/J1​=0.610(5).
We use the density matrix renormalization group method to calculate several energy eigenvalues of the frustrated S=1/2 square-lattice J_{1}-J_{2} Heisenberg model on 2L×L cylinders with L≤10. We identify excited-level crossings versus the coupling ratio g=J_{2}/J_{1} and study their drifts with the system size L. The lowest singlet-triplet and singlet-quintuplet crossings converge rapidly (with corrections ∝L^{-2}) to different g values, and we argue that these correspond to ground-state transitions between the Néel antiferromagnet and a gapless spin liquid, at g_{c1}≈0.46, and between the spin liquid and a valence-bond solid at g_{c2}≈0.52. Previous studies of order parameters were not able to positively discriminate between an extended spin liquid phase and a critical point. We expect level-crossing analysis to be a generically powerful tool in density matrix renormalization group studies of quantum phase transitions.
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The spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ Heisenberg model on square lattices is investigated via the finite projected entangled pair states (PEPS) method. Using the recently developed gradient optimization method combined with Monte Carlo sampling techniques, we are able to obtain the ground state energies that are competitive with the best results. The calculations show that there is no N\'eel order, dimer order, or plaquette order in the region of $0.42\ensuremath{\lesssim}{J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.6$, suggesting a single spin liquid phase in the intermediate region. Furthermore, the calculated staggered spin, dimer, and plaquette correlation functions all have power law decay behaviors, which provide strong evidence that the intermediate nonmagnetic phase is a single gapless spin liquid state.
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