We present a new algorithm for quantum Monte Carlo simulation based on global updating with loops. While various theoretical predictions are confirmed in one dimension, we find, for S=1 systems on a square lattice with an antiferromagnetic biquadratic interaction, that the intermediate phase between the antiferromagnetic and the ferromagnetic phases is disordered and that the two phase transitions are both of the first order in contrast to the one-dimensional case. It is strongly suggested that the transition points coincide those at which the algorithm changes qualitatively.
We present a new algorithm for quantum Monte Carlo simulation based on global updating with loops. While various theoretical predictions are confirmed in one dimension, we find, for S=1 systems on a square lattice with an antiferromagnetic biquadratic interaction, that the intermediate phase between the antiferromagnetic and the ferromagnetic phases is disordered and that the two phase transitions are both of the first order in contrast to the one-dimensional case. It is strongly suggested that the transition points coincide those at which the algorithm changes qualitatively.
Motivated by the numerical simulation of systems which display quantum phase transitions, we present a novel application of the meron-cluster algorithm to simulate the quantum antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model coupled to an external uniform magnetic field both in one and in two dimensions.In the infinite volume limit and at zero temperature we found numerical evidence that supports a quantum phase transition very close to the critical values B c = 2 and B c = 4 for the system in one and two dimensions, respectively.For the one dimensional system, we have compared the numerical data obtained with analytical predictions for the magnetization density as a function of the external field obtained by scaling-behaviour analysis and Bethe Ansatz techniques.Since there is no analytical solution for the two dimensional case, we have compared our results with the magnetization density obtained by scaling relations for small lattice sizes and with the approximated thermodynamical limit at zero temperature guessed by scaling relations.Moreover, we have compared the numerical data with other numerical simulations performed by using different algorithms in one and two dimensions, like the directed loop method.The numerical data obtained are in perfect agreement with all these previous results, which confirms that the meron-algorithm is reliable for quantum Monte Carlo simulations and applicable both in one and two dimensions.Finally, we have computed the integrated autocorrelation time to measure the efficiency of the meron algorithm in one dimension.
The quasi-one-dimensional S=1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet with a biquadratic term is investigated at zero temperature by quantum Monte Carlo simulation. As the magnitude of the inter-chain coupling is increased, the system undergoes a phase transition from a spontaneously dimerized phase to a Néel ordered or spin nematic phase. The numerical results suggest the possibility of an unconventional second-order transition in which the symmetry group characterizing one phase is not a subgroup of the other.
Quantum phase transition of site-diluted and bond-diluted Heisenberg antiferromagnets on square lattices is studied. By using the novel continuous-time loop algorithm, we perform quantum Monte Carlo simulations on quite larger lattices at extremely lower temperatures than the previous numerical studies. It is found that the antiferromagnetic long-range order at T = 0 persists so long as a cluster of magnetic sites percolates, that is, the critical concentration is equal to the classical percolation threshold, in both of the site-diluted and bond-diluted cases. Furthermore, we find that some critical exponents, such as the magnetization exponent β, are non-classical and strongly depend on the spin size S. On the other hand, we show that the correlation-length exponent ν is universal and is equal to the classical value (ν=4/3).
A quantum Monte Carlo method combining update of the loop algorithm with the global flip of the world line is proposed as an efficient method to study the magnetization process in an external field, which has been difficult because of inefficiency of the update of the total magnetization. The method is demonstrated in the one dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model and the trimer model. We attempted various other Monte Carlo algorithms to study systems in the external field and compared their efficiency.
This work focuses on numerical studies of quantum spin systems. These simple models are known to exhibit a variety of phases, some of which have no classical counterpart. Phase transitions between them are driven by quantum fluctuations and the unconventional nature of some such transitions make them a fascinating avenue of study. Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) is an indispensable tool in the study of these phases and phase transitions in two and higher dimensions. Nevertheless, we are limited by our inability to simulate models that suffer from the infamous sign problem. While the case of S=1/2 has been studied extensively due to availability of sign problem free models, not much progress has been made for higher S. In a first part of this dissertation, a systematic procedure to write down a large family of ``designer hamiltonians'', i.e. models constructed to be free from the sign problem (``de-signed''), for arbitrary spin-S is given. Three applications of this procedure are also presented. As a first application, a S=1 interaction is constructed on the square lattice realizing a novel ``Haldane Nematic (HN)'' phase that breaks the lattice rotational symmetry while preserving lattice translational symmetry and spin rotational symmetry. By supplementing our model with a two-spin Heisenberg interaction, a study of the transition between the antiferromagnetic and HN phase is presented, which we find to be of first order. In a second application, the antiferromagnetic to four-fold columnar valence bond solid (cVBS) phase transition in a sign free S=1 square lattice model is studied. Our simulations provide unambiguous evidence for a direct conventional first-order quantum phase transition demonstrating a sharp contrast with the S=1/2 case, where this transition is a prototypical example of an unconventional continuous transition. In our third application, all possible sign-free two-site spin-S interactions are constructed and the phases that are realized by these new nearest neighbour models are investigated on the square lattice. In a second part, the superfluid-VBS quantum phase transition is studied in a spin model in presence of easy plane anisotropy, i.e. spins preferentially align in a plane. The model studied is an interpolation of two models: (a) a rotationally symmetric model that appears to host a continuous transition even on the biggest lattices studied (b) the other is an easy plane version of the aforementioned model that clearly shows a first order transition even on relatively small lattices. In our simulations, the nature of the transition was found to be first order in the presence of an easy plane anisotropy, indicating the superfluid-VBS transition in the two-component easy plane model is generically discontinuous. In a third part, we study the SU(N) generalization of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the BCC lattice. Our numerical studies of the model show that magnetic order present for N=2 is destroyed for N>15 and valence bond solid order is observed for N>16. The nature of the phase at N=16 and the nature of the phase transition between different phases is investigated.
The continuous imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo method with the worm update algorithm is applied to explore the ground-state properties of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model with antiferromagnetic (AF) coupling J>0 and ferromagnetic (F) coupling J^{'}<0 along zigzag and armchair directions, respectively, on honeycomb lattice. It is found that by enhancing the F coupling J^{'} between zigzag AF chains, the system is smoothly crossover from one-dimensional zigzag spin chains to a two-dimensional magnetic ordered state. In absence of an external field, the system is in a stripe-ordered phase. In the presence of uniform and staggered fields, the uniform and staggered out-of-plane magnetizations appear while the stripe order remains in the xy plane, and a second-order quantum phase transition (QPT) at a critical staggered field is observed. The critical exponents of correlation length for QPTs induced by a staggered field for the cases with J>0, J^{'}<0 and J<0, J^{'}>0 are obtained to be ν=0.70046(1) and 0.7086(3), respectively, indicating that both cases belong to O(3) universality. The corresponding dynamic and susceptibility exponent z and γ/ν are fitted to be 1.006572(9), 1.9412(2) and 1.004615(8), 1.96121(9) for the two cases, respectively. The scaling behavior in a staggered field is analyzed, and the ground-state phase diagrams in the plane of coupling ratio and staggered field are presented for two cases. The temperature dependence of susceptibility and specific heat of both systems in external magnetic fields is also discussed. A Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition is found for the present system in a uniform field.