We have realized a thorough quantum mechanical analysis of an extensive number of low lying levels of the Heisenberg Hamiltonian on small periodic samples. Striking qualitative differences appear between the spectra of the triangular lattice and those of the Kagomé lattice. Symmetries and finite size scaling of the low lying levels of the triangular antiferromagnetic point to an à la Néel symmetry breaking, and the dynamical structure factors corroborate this conclusion. The Kagomé antiferromagnet spectra are qualitatively different: no signature of a symmetry breaking has been exhibited and the dynamical structure factors of the low lying levels display broad bands. The Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a Kagomé lattice is a serious candidate for a spin liquid.
We study the
S=21 pyrochlore Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a magnetic field. Using large-scale density-matrix renormalization group calculations for clusters with up to 128 spins, we find indications of a finite triplet gap, causing a threshold field to nonzero magnetization in the magnetization curve. We obtain a robust saturation field consistent with a magnon crystal, although the corresponding
5/6 magnetization plateau is very slim and possibly unstable. Most remarkably, there is a pronounced and apparently robust
1/2 magnetization plateau where the ground state breaks the rotational symmetry of the lattice, exhibiting oppositely polarized spins on alternating kagome and triangular planes. Reminiscent of the kagome ice plateau of the pyrochlore Ising antiferromagnet known as spin ice, it arises via a much more subtle ``quantum order by disorder'' mechanism.
We study the energetics of Gutzwiller projected BCS states of various symmetries for the triangular lattice antiferromagnet with a four-particle ring exchange using variational Monte Carlo methods. In a range of parameters the energetically favored state is found to be a projected ${d}_{{x}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{y}^{2}}$ paired state which breaks lattice rotational symmetry. We show that the properties of this nematic or orientationally ordered paired spin-liquid state as a function of temperature and pressure can account for many of the experiments on organic materials. We also study the ring-exchange model with ferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange and find that among the studied ans\"atze, a projected
f-wave state is the most favorable.