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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Infinite-Spin Limit of the Quantum Heisenberg Model

Kenneth Millard, Harvey S. Leff

Published Jun 1, 1971• 29 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The canonical partition function Q(H, N, s) for a spin-s anisotropic Heisenberg model with N sites, in external magnetic field H, is examined in the limit s → ∞. The coupling coefficients and the magnetic moment per spin are taken to be inversely proportional to s2 and s, respectively. It is proved that lim lim s→∞s−NQ(H,N,s)=(2π)−NQ(H,N),where Q(H, N) is the partition function for a corresponding classical Heisenberg model with spins of unit magnitude. This theorem makes precise the widely believed, but heretofore unproved equivalence between the classical Heisenberg model and the infinite-spin limit of the quantum Heisenberg model. No appeal to the thermodynamic limit is necessary.

DOI
10.1063/1.1665664

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The canonical partition function Q(H, N, s) for a spin-s anisotropic Heisenberg model with N sites, in external magnetic field H, is examined in the limit s → ∞. The coupling coefficients and the magnetic moment per spin are taken to be inversely proportional to s2 and s, respectively. It is proved that lim lim s→∞s−NQ(H,N,s)=(2π)−NQ(H,N),where Q(H, N) is the partition function for a corresponding classical Heisenberg model with spins of unit magnitude. This theorem makes precise the widely believed, but heretofore unproved equivalence between the classical Heisenberg model and the infinite-spin limit of the quantum Heisenberg model. No appeal to the thermodynamic limit is necessary.
Exact expressions for the partition function, spin pair correlation function, and susceptibility of the onedimensional isotropic classical Heisenberg model are obtained in zero external field with cyclic boundary conditions. It is shown that the methods used to derive these results enable the partition functions and susceptibilities of finite clusters of interacting classical spins to be evaluated in terms of the $3n\ensuremath{-}j$ symbols of Wigner. Exact results in one dimension are also obtained for the partition function and susceptibility of a "planar" classical Heisenberg model. In this model the spin vectors interact via a Heisenberg coupling but each spin vector is restricted to lie in a plane.The anisotropic classical Heisenberg model described by the Hamiltonian $\mathcal{H}=\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\Sigma}\stackrel{}{(\mathrm{ij})}2({{J}_{\mathrm{ij}}}^{x}{{s}_{i}}^{x}{{s}_{j}}^{x}+{{J}_{\mathrm{ij}}}^{y}{{s}_{i}}^{y}{{s}_{j}}^{y}+{{J}_{\mathrm{ij}}}^{z}{{s}_{i}}^{z}{{s}_{j}}^{z})\ensuremath{-}mH\ensuremath{\Sigma}\stackrel{N}{j=1}{{s}_{i}}^{z},$ where six{{s}_{i}}^{x}si​x, siy{{s}_{i}}^{y}si​y, and siz{{s}_{i}}^{z}si​z are components of the unit vector si{\mathbf{s}}_{i}si​, is also considered. A perturbation series for the zero-field free energy of the anisotropic model in one dimension with nearest-neighbor interactions Jijx=Jijy=J{{J}_{\mathrm{ij}}}^{x}={{J}_{\mathrm{ij}}}^{y}=JJij​x=Jij​y=J and ${{J}_{\mathrm{ij}}}^{z}=\ensuremath{\gamma}J$ is developed in powers of $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{-}1$ using the isotropic model as the unperturbed system. Detailed calculations are performed to third order in $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{-}1$. It is found that the perturbation series for the energy per spin breaks down as $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$. A high-temperature series expansion for the anisotropic model, which is valid for a general interaction potential and lattice, is derived by generalizing the methods developed by Horwitz and Callen for the Ising model. This series is rearranged to give a simplified diagram expansion. Finally, a practical technique for calculating the high-temperature series expansions of the zero-field free energy and susceptibility of the isotropic classical Heisenberg model is presented.
The statistical thermodynamics of the quantum spin- s XXZ Heisenberg model in the Weiss (mean-field) limit rests on the outer multiplicities of the irreducible representations in the Clebsch–Gordan decomposition of the n -fold spin- s tensor product, which determine the energy-level degeneracies and hence the partition function. Using known closed forms for these multiplicities in terms of generalized binomial coefficients of order 2 s + 1 , we write the exact finite-size partition function of the effective collective Hamiltonian and evaluate its thermodynamic limit by a large-deviation (Laplace) analysis validated against direct summations for systems of up to n = 10 4 spins. The free energy then follows from a two-parameter variational principle in the total spin and the magnetization per site. The ferromagnetic ordering is driven by the rotationally invariant part of the Hamiltonian, so that the Curie temperature T c = 1 3 J s ( s + 1 ) is independent of the anisotropy Δ, and the transition is of second order for every spin s , with classical mean-field exponents. The anisotropy reshapes the phase diagram: for Δ < 1 the field-driven first-order line of the isotropic ( Δ = 1 ) model opens into a dome of easy-plane ferromagnetic order, bounded by a continuous transition that restores the residual U(1) symmetry, and no first-order transitions or metastability occur throughout − 1 ≤ Δ < 1 ; the isotropic Curie-Weiss ferromagnet is recovered as Δ → 1. In two appendices we detail the asymptotics of the outer multiplicities down to the Gaussian-fluctuation prefactor and discuss the q -number and Jacobi-theta structures underlying the model, including the partial-theta-type structure that obstructs a standard theta-function reduction of the residual total-spin sum.
In this part labelled II we examine the spin correlations and the susceptibility. We use a similar method which has allowed to derive a closed-form expression of the zero-field partition function ZN(0), for 2D square lattices composed of (2N+1)2classical spins isotropically coupled [1]. We rigorously show that the spin correlation vanishes in the zero-field limit, except at T=0 K. Thus, the critical temperature is TC=0 K, in agreement with Mermin-Wagner's theorem. For calculating the spin-spin correlation, we show that it is necessary to distinguish a correlation domain in which the correlation path is confined and a wing domain (Theorem 1). In the thermodynamic limit (N→+∞), we give a general closed-form expression for the spin-spin correlation between any two lattice sites. We prove that all the possible paths have the same analytic expression and correspond to the shortest ones in agreement with the classical principle of least action and its quantum version (Theorem 2). As a result and for the first time, we derive the closed-form expression for the susceptibility, without any approximation. We finally test previous experimental fits and we show that the use of a truncated expansion for the susceptibility was totally justified.