Using variational wave functions and Monte Carlo techniques, we study the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with first-neighbor
J1 and second-neighbor
J2 antiferromagnetic couplings on the honeycomb lattice. We perform a systematic comparison of magnetically ordered and nonmagnetic states (spin liquids and valence-bond solids) to obtain the ground-state phase diagram. N\'eel order is stabilized for small values of the frustrating second-neighbor coupling. Increasing the ratio
J2/J1, we find strong evidence for a continuous transition to a nonmagnetic phase at ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\approx}0.23$. Close to the transition point, the Gutzwiller-projected uniform resonating valence-bond state gives an excellent approximation to the exact ground-state energy. For $0.23\ensuremath{\lesssim}{J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.36$, a gapless
Z2 spin liquid with Dirac nodes competes with a plaquette valence-bond solid. In contrast, the gapped spin liquid considered in previous works has significantly higher variational energy. Although the plaquette valence-bond order is expected to be present as soon as the N\'eel order melts, this ordered state becomes clearly favored only for ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}0.3$. Finally, for $0.36\ensuremath{\lesssim}{J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\le}0.5$, a valence-bond solid with columnar order takes over as the ground state, being also lower in energy than the magnetic state with collinear order. We perform a detailed finite-size scaling and standard data collapse analysis, and we discuss the possibility of a deconfined quantum critical point separating the N\'eel antiferromagnet from the plaquette valence-bond solid.
We study the ground-state (gs) phase diagram of the frustrated spin-
21 J1--
J2--
J3 antiferromagnet with ${J}_{2}={J}_{3}=\ensuremath{\kappa}{J}_{1}$ on the honeycomb lattice using coupled-cluster theory and exact diagonalization methods. We present results for the gs energy, magnetic order parameter, spin-spin correlation function, and plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) susceptibility. We find a N\'eel antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase for $\ensuremath{\kappa}<{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{1}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.47$, a collinear striped AFM phase for $\ensuremath{\kappa}>{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{2}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.60$, and a paramagnetic PVBC phase for ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{1}}\ensuremath{\lesssim}\ensuremath{\kappa}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{2}}$. The transition at ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{2}}$ appears to be of first-order type, while that at ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{1}}$ is continuous. Since the N\'eel and PVBC phases break different symmetries our results favor the deconfinement scenario for the transition at ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{{c}_{1}}$.
Using the coupled cluster method we study the phase diagram of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a honeycomb lattice with nearest-neighbour exchange coupling J1 > 0 and frustrating next-nearest-neighbour coupling J2 ≡ xJ1 > 0. In the range 0 < x < 1 we find four phases exhibiting respectively Néel, 6-spin plaquette, staggered dimer and Néel-II orderings, with quantum critical points at xc1 ≈ 0.207(3), xc2 ≈ 0.385(10) and xc3 ≈ 0.65(5). The transitions at xc1 and xc3 appear to be continuous (and hence deconfined) ones, while that at xc2 appears to be a direct first-order one.
We use quantum Monte Carlo methods to study the ground-state phase diagram of a
S=1/2 honeycomb lattice magnet in which a nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange
J (favoring N\'eel order) competes with two different multispin interaction terms: a six-spin interaction
Q3 that favors columnar valence-bond solid (VBS) order, and a four-spin interaction
Q2 that favors staggered VBS order. For ${Q}_{3}\ensuremath{\sim}{Q}_{2}\ensuremath{\gg}J$, we establish that the competition between the two different VBS orders stabilizes N\'eel order in a large swath of the phase diagram even when
J is the smallest energy scale in the Hamiltonian. When ${Q}_{3}\ensuremath{\gg}({Q}_{2},J)$ $\mathrm{[}{Q}_{2}\ensuremath{\gg}({Q}_{3},J)\text{]}$, this model exhibits at zero temperature phase transition from the N\'eel state to a columnar (staggered) VBS state. We establish that the N\'eel-columnar VBS transition is continuous for all values of
Q2, and that critical properties along the entire phase boundary are well characterized by critical exponents and amplitudes of the noncompact
CP1 (NCCP1) theory of deconfined criticality, similar to what is observed on a square lattice. However, a surprising threefold anisotropy of the phase of the VBS order parameter at criticality, whose presence was recently noted at the
Q2=0 deconfined critical point, is seen to persist all along this phase boundary. We use a classical analogy to explore this by studying the critical point of a three-dimensional
XY model with a fourfold anisotropy field which is known to be weakly irrelevant at the three-dimensional
XY critical point. In this case, we again find that the critical anisotropy appears to saturate to a nonzero value over the range of sizes accessible to our simulations.
We study the proposed plaquette resonating valence bond (pRVB) state in the honeycomb lattice ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ model with frustration arising from next-nearest-neighbor interactions. Starting with the limit of decoupled hexagons, we develop a plaquette operator approach to describe the pRVB state and its low-energy excitations. Our calculation clarifies that the putative pRVB state necessarily has
f-wave symmetry: the plaquette wave function is an antisymmetric combination of the Kekul\'e structures. We estimate the plaquette ordering amplitude, ground-state energy, and spin gap as a function of
J2/J1. The pRVB state is most stable around ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\sim}0.25$. We identify the wave vectors of the lowest triplet excitations, which can be verified using exact diagonalization or density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) studies. When
J2 is reduced, we can have either a deconfined quantum phase transition (QPT) or a first-order transition into a N\'eel state. When
J2 is increased, we surmise that the system will undergo a first-order phase transition into a state which breaks lattice rotational symmetry.
We perform sign-problem-free determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the optical Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model on a half-filled honeycomb lattice. In particular, we investigate the model's semimetal (SM) to Kekul\'e valence bond solid (KVBS) phase transition at zero and finite temperatures as a function of phonon energy and interaction strength. Using hybrid Monte Carlo sampling methods, we can simulate the model near the adiabatic regime, allowing us to access regions of parameter space relevant to graphene. Our simulations suggest that the SM-KVBS transition is weakly first-order at all temperatures, with graphene situated close to the phase boundary in the SM region of the phase diagram. Our results highlight the important role bond-stretching phonon modes play in the formation of KVBS order in strained graphene-derived systems.