We prove that for both the classical ferro- and antiferromagnetic Heisenberg models the infinite volume limit of the ground state energy per unit volume of the system (Hamiltonian plus λ times an operator) is not differentiable at zero in λ for some operators. This characterization of the singularity at T=0, which corresponds to Fisher’s for positive temperature, adds to a number of others, which are to some extent analogous to the several characterizations of phase transitions at T≳0. A comment is made upon a related open problem concerning the ground state of the quantum antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain.
We analyze the properties of low-energy bound states in the transverse-field Ising model and in the XXZ model on the square lattice. To this end, we develop an optimized implementation of perturbative continuous unitary transformations. The Ising model is studied in the small-field limit which is found to be a special case of the toric code model in a magnetic field. To analyze the XXZ model, we perform a perturbative expansion about the Ising limit in order to discuss the fate of the elementary magnon excitations when approaching the Heisenberg point.
The zero-field critical behavior above
Tc of ferromagnets (or ferroelectrics) with a Hamiltonian of cubic symmetry is studied, in
d space dimensions, in the limit of infinite spin dimensionality, $n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$, with the cubic term of order unity, but the usual
S4 term of order ${n}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. A diagrammatic expansion about an Ising model (instead of the normal Gaussian model) is used. Characteristic cubic behavior is discovered, with renormalized Ising-model exponents (in the Fisher sense).
Dynamics of one-dimensional Ising-like (strongly anisotropic) antiferromagnets is studied by the perturbation theory from the pure Ising limit and by an exact calculation for finite chains. Both calculations show that the des Cloizeaux-Gaudin (dC-G) “spin-wave” spectrum corresponds neither to a lower bound of excitation continuum nor to the peak position of the transverse response Sxx(Q, ω). A new interpretation is given of the spin-wave spectrum of CsCoCl3 without relying on the dC-G theory. It is also shown that at elevated temperatures Sxx(Q, ω) has a three-peak structure. The longitudinal response Sxx(Q, ω) at low temperatures has a weak peak at the position of spin wave peak, while with increasing temperature Sxx(Q, ω) is dominated by the central peak due to thermally activated solitons, which was predicted by Villain.
Results of exact numerical work on the spectra and thermodynamic properties are presented for finite clusters in one and two dimensions, for the isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian and the Heisenberg Hamiltonian with longitudinal anisotropy. Eigenvalues of the isotropic Heisenberg loops (that is, those with periodic boundary conditions) of $N\ensuremath{\le}12, 8, 6, 5$, 5 particles, each of spin \textonehalf{}, 1,
23, 2 and
25, respectively, are found. It is shown that the spin-
S linear chain ($N\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$) will have ground-state energy per spin $\frac{{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\ensuremath{\infty}}^{s}}{2J}=\ensuremath{-}1.404\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.002, \ensuremath{-}2.85\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03, \ensuremath{-}4.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 \mathrm{and} \ensuremath{-}7.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5$, for
S=1,23,2,and25, respectively. For antiferromagnetic interaction, the lowest excited states of the loops with even number of particles have spin 1 and the familiar double sine spectrum; while for the spin-\textonehalf{} case the eigenvalues are very different from the result of the spin-wave theory, they approach this limit as the spin increases, and for spin
25, the infinite-spin results of the spin-wave theory should be quite accurate. For ferromagnetic loops, there exist spin-wave bound states for higher spins just like those familiar in the spin-\textonehalf{} linear chain. Effective magnetic moments for these loops are tabulated. We also present the moments for the
N=8 spin-\textonehalf{} chain (with open ends), and find the difference to be small. Results on the 3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}4 two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet are presented and compared with experimental data. Finally, we show some examples of the violation of the nondegeneracy rule, similar to those found by Heilmann and Lieb; levels belonging to different representations of a symmetry group remain permanently degenerate when a parameter is varied.
Recent experimental achievements in controlling ultracold gases in optical lattices open a new perspective on quantum many-body physics. In these experimental setups, it is possible to study coherent time evolution of isolated quantum systems. These dynamics reveal new physics beyond the low-energy properties that are usually relevant in solid-state many-body systems. In this paper, we study the time evolution of antiferromagnetic order in the Heisenberg chain after a sudden change of the anisotropy parameter, using various numerical and analytical methods. As a generic result, we find that the order parameter, which can show oscillatory or non-oscillatory dynamics, decays exponentially except for the effectively non-interacting case of the XX limit. For weakly ordered initial states, we also find evidence for an algebraic correction to the exponential law. The study is based on numerical simulations using a numerical matrix product method for infinite system sizes (iMPS), for which we provide a detailed description and an error analysis. Additionally, we investigate in detail the exactly solvable XX limit. These results are compared to approximative analytical approaches including an effective description by the XZ model as well as by mean-field, Luttinger-liquid and sine-Gordon theories. The comparison reveals which aspects of non-equilibrium dynamics can, as in equilibrium, be described by low-energy theories and which are the novel phenomena specific to quantum quench dynamics. The relevance of the energetically high part of the spectrum is illustrated by means of a full numerical diagonalization of the Hamiltonian.