Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/0607764 · Journal of Physics Condensed Matter

Detecting spontaneous symmetry breaking in finite-size spectra of frustrated quantum antiferromagnets

Grégoire Misguich, Philippe Sindzingre

Published Mar 23, 2007• 50 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Exact diagonalization is a powerful numerical technique for analysing static and dynamical quantities in quantum many-body lattice models. It provides unbiased information concerning quantum numbers, energies and wavefunctions of the low-energy eigenstates for almost any kind of microscopic model. The information about energies and quantum numbers is particularly useful to detect possible spontaneous symmetry breaking at T = 0. We review some of the advances in the field of frustrated quantum magnets which have been possible thanks to detailed symmetry analysis of exact diagonalization spectra. New results concerning the kagome and star lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets are presented.

DOI
10.1088/0953-8984/19/14/145202

Related papers

Studying Continuous Symmetry Breaking using Energy Level Spectroscopy

Alexander Wietek, Schuler, Michael, Andreas Martin Läuchli

Tower of States analysis is a powerful tool for investigating phase transitions in condensed matter systems. Spontaneous symmetry breaking implies a specific structure of the energy eigenvalues and their corresponding quantum numbers on finite systems. In these lecture notes we explain the group representation theory used to derive the spectral structure for several scenarios of symmetry breaking. We give numerous examples to compute quantum numbers of the degenerate groundstates, including translational symmetry breaking or spin rotational symmetry breaking in Heisenberg antiferromagnets. These results are then compared to actual numerical data from Exact Diagonalization.

arXiv:1704.08622•Apr 27, 2017•14 citations

Symmetry Breaking and Finite Size Effects in Quantum Many-Body Systems 1

Tohru Koma, Hal Tasaki

We consider a quantum many-body system on a lattice which exhibits a spontaneous symmetry breaking in its infinite volume ground states, but in which the corresponding order operator does not commute with the Hamiltonian. Typical examples are the Heisenberg antiferromagnet with a Néel order, and the Hubbard model with a (superconducting) off-diagonal long range order. In the corresponding finite system, the symmetry breaking is usually “obscured ” by “quantum fluctuation ” and one gets a symmetric ground state with a long range order. In such a situation, Horsch and von der Linden proved that the finite system has a low-lying eigenstate whose excitation energy is not more than of order N −1, where N denotes the number of the sites in the lattice. Here we study the situation where the broken symmetry is a continuous one. For a particular set of states (which are orthogonal to the ground state and with each other), we prove bounds for their energy expectation values. The bounds establish that there exist ever increasing numbers of low-lying eigenstates whose excitation energies are bounded by a constant times N −1. A crucial feature of the particular low-lying

•Jan 1, 1997•51 citations

Robust symmetry breaking in gapless quantum magnets

Chao Yin, Andrew Lucas

We prove the existence of spontaneous symmetry breaking in suitably low-energy eigenstates of certain gapless and frustrated many-body quantum systems, namely symmetric quantum perturbations to classical models which exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking of a finite group at some positive temperature. Additionally, the classical model need not be local in space, as long as it satisfies a quantum analogue of the Peierls condition. As an example of our technique, we establish robust ferromagnetism in random-bond Ising models in $d= 2$ dimensions with sufficiently biased random couplings, with weak transverse field. Our mathematical technique is based on establishing quantum bottlenecks, similar to a "many-body WKB" method for evaluating tunneling rates. Using these same methods, we provide new proofs of metastability and the slow decay of the false vacuum, applicable to gapless metastable states. Our work represents a first step towards a rigorous classification of stable gapless quantum phases.

math-phCross-listedarXiv:2603.13212•Physical Review Letters•Mar 16, 2026•0 citations

Numerical Diagonalization Study on Frustrated Quantum Spin Systems

Tôru Sakai

Frustrated quantum spin systems are investigated by the large-scale numerical exact diagonalization based on the Lanczos algorithm. Our recent results based on the calculation for finite-size clusters up to 45 spins are introduced about the following topics; (1) spin gap issue of the kagome-lattice antiferromagnet[1.2], (2) magnetization plateaux of the triangular- and kagome-lattice antiferromagnets[3,4]. (3) quatnum phase transitions of the Shastry-Sutherland model[5]. References [1]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 80 (2011)053704;arXiv:1103.5829 [2]T. Sakai and H. Nakano, Physica B 536 (2018)85; arXiv:1801.04458 [3]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 87 (2018)063706. [4]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86 (2017)114705;arXiv:1708.07248. [5]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 87 (2018) 123702; arXiv: 1810.11533.

•Jun 8, 2019•0 citations

Physics of low-energy singlet states of the Kagome lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet

Predrag Nikolić, T. Senthil

This paper is concerned with physics of the low-energy singlet excitations found to exist below the spin gap in numerical studies of the Kagome lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Insight into the nature of these excitations is obtained by exploiting an approximate mapping to a fully frustrated transverse-field Ising model on the dual dice lattice. This Ising model is shown to possess at least two phases---an ordered phase that also breaks translational symmetry with a large unit cell, and a paramagnetic phase. The former is argued to be a likely candidate for the ground state of the original Kagome magnet which thereby exhibits a specific pattern of dimer ordering with a large unit cell. Comparisons with available numerical results are made.

arXiv:cond-mat/0305189•Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Dec 12, 2003•156 citations

On numerical methods in quantum spin systems

Dmitrii Kochkov

This thesis is focused on the application and development of numerical methods for studying quantum many- body spin systems. Part I sets the stage for research projects. In chapter 1, I go over major milestones in the field of frustrated magnetism, how it fits into a larger category of condensed matter physics, and recent developments that provide context for the research projects presented in part II. Chapters 2 3 provide the reader with necessary concepts in physics of phase transitions and numerical methods that are often employed when studying ground states of quantum many body systems. Part II focuses on the research projects carried out during my PhD research. In chapter 4 I present a machine-learning inspired method for solving quantum many body problems. This method addresses issues of representation of variational wave functions and their optimization. In chapter 5, I present a numerical study on the embedding of an exactly solvable point in a phase diagram of an extended Heisenberg model on a kagome lattice. Chapter 6 studies a quantum Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice. Phase transitions in quantum many body systems manifest themselves as a reorganization of low energy spectra of the system. They come in a variety of forms ranging from symmetry breaking transitions, where a local order parameter is formed and to topological phase transitions where the change of the ground state can be attributed to non-local changes in the entanglement patterns. In chapter 2, I review classic models studied in the context of frustrated magnetism and briefly go over the formulation of Landau symmetry breaking theory and common order parameters. The breakdown of Landau symmetry-breaking theory for topological phase transition is discussed using the example of Resonance Valence Bond (RVB) state, which serves as a qualitative exemplification of spin liquid phases. I discuss means of detecting phase transitions with a focus on methods that are applicable in a numerical setting. Chapter 3 presents elements of the numerical machinery that the rest of the thesis employs and builds upon. I discuss traditional trade-offs and provide rough metrics used for analysis of strengths and drawbacks of different approaches. Then I focus on Exact Diagonalization (ED) and Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) methods that are used in later chapters. In chapter 4, I describe the application of machine learning techniques to the variational approach to the quantum many body problem. I introduce Computational Graph States (CGS), a new class of variational wave functions based on the dataflow programming paradigm. The use of computational graphs makes composing new wave functions easy due to its modular structure. Automatic differentiation allows us to obtain efficient derivatives with respect to variational parameters automatically. We also develop a novel optimization scheme, Supervised Wave-function Optimization. It combines ideas of supervised learning and imaginary time evolution. Our method resolves a number of technical challenges and allows seamless optimization of complicated variational models. During the exploration process we constructed a new class of system size invariant model wave functions that can be trained on one system size and generalized to other system sizes with high accuracy. In chapter 5, we study the phase diagram of the kagome antiferromagnet in the J2, Jz plane, which corresponds to second nearest neighbor interactions and spin anisotropy. We report an exactly solvable point with macroscopic degeneracy at J2 = 0, Jz = −0.5 and show that many phases emanate from around this point. In addition, we find a previously unknown transition within the spin-liquid region suggesting a possibility of two distinct spin liquids. In chapter 6, we consider a Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice which interpolated between the triangular and honeycomb lattices. Using exact diagonalization we compute the phase diagram of this model. We find that for this model, the triangular lattice J1-J2 spin liquid region is extended to a larger domain that has lower symmetries than that of the triangular lattice. We perform a variational study of projected BCS wave functions which we directly compare to exact ground states on 36 site cluster as well as consider variational energies from larger system sizes. We argue that construction of symmetric states is essential to obtain good variational energies and give evidence that Dirac spin-liquid state is likely to characterize the spin liquid phase.

•May 2, 2019•0 citations
Exact diagonalization is a powerful numerical technique for analysing static and dynamical quantities in quantum many-body lattice models. It provides unbiased information concerning quantum numbers, energies and wavefunctions of the low-energy eigenstates for almost any kind of microscopic model. The information about energies and quantum numbers is particularly useful to detect possible spontaneous symmetry breaking at T = 0. We review some of the advances in the field of frustrated quantum magnets which have been possible thanks to detailed symmetry analysis of exact diagonalization spectra. New results concerning the kagome and star lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets are presented.
Tower of States analysis is a powerful tool for investigating phase transitions in condensed matter systems. Spontaneous symmetry breaking implies a specific structure of the energy eigenvalues and their corresponding quantum numbers on finite systems. In these lecture notes we explain the group representation theory used to derive the spectral structure for several scenarios of symmetry breaking. We give numerous examples to compute quantum numbers of the degenerate groundstates, including translational symmetry breaking or spin rotational symmetry breaking in Heisenberg antiferromagnets. These results are then compared to actual numerical data from Exact Diagonalization.
We consider a quantum many-body system on a lattice which exhibits a spontaneous symmetry breaking in its infinite volume ground states, but in which the corresponding order operator does not commute with the Hamiltonian. Typical examples are the Heisenberg antiferromagnet with a Néel order, and the Hubbard model with a (superconducting) off-diagonal long range order. In the corresponding finite system, the symmetry breaking is usually “obscured ” by “quantum fluctuation ” and one gets a symmetric ground state with a long range order. In such a situation, Horsch and von der Linden proved that the finite system has a low-lying eigenstate whose excitation energy is not more than of order N −1, where N denotes the number of the sites in the lattice. Here we study the situation where the broken symmetry is a continuous one. For a particular set of states (which are orthogonal to the ground state and with each other), we prove bounds for their energy expectation values. The bounds establish that there exist ever increasing numbers of low-lying eigenstates whose excitation energies are bounded by a constant times N −1. A crucial feature of the particular low-lying
We prove the existence of spontaneous symmetry breaking in suitably low-energy eigenstates of certain gapless and frustrated many-body quantum systems, namely symmetric quantum perturbations to classical models which exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking of a finite group at some positive temperature. Additionally, the classical model need not be local in space, as long as it satisfies a quantum analogue of the Peierls condition. As an example of our technique, we establish robust ferromagnetism in random-bond Ising models in d=2d= 2d=2 dimensions with sufficiently biased random couplings, with weak transverse field. Our mathematical technique is based on establishing quantum bottlenecks, similar to a "many-body WKB" method for evaluating tunneling rates. Using these same methods, we provide new proofs of metastability and the slow decay of the false vacuum, applicable to gapless metastable states. Our work represents a first step towards a rigorous classification of stable gapless quantum phases.
Frustrated quantum spin systems are investigated by the large-scale numerical exact diagonalization based on the Lanczos algorithm. Our recent results based on the calculation for finite-size clusters up to 45 spins are introduced about the following topics; (1) spin gap issue of the kagome-lattice antiferromagnet[1.2], (2) magnetization plateaux of the triangular- and kagome-lattice antiferromagnets[3,4]. (3) quatnum phase transitions of the Shastry-Sutherland model[5]. References [1]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 80 (2011)053704;arXiv:1103.5829 [2]T. Sakai and H. Nakano, Physica B 536 (2018)85; arXiv:1801.04458 [3]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 87 (2018)063706. [4]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86 (2017)114705;arXiv:1708.07248. [5]H. Nakano and T. Sakai, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 87 (2018) 123702; arXiv: 1810.11533.
This paper is concerned with physics of the low-energy singlet excitations found to exist below the spin gap in numerical studies of the Kagome lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Insight into the nature of these excitations is obtained by exploiting an approximate mapping to a fully frustrated transverse-field Ising model on the dual dice lattice. This Ising model is shown to possess at least two phases---an ordered phase that also breaks translational symmetry with a large unit cell, and a paramagnetic phase. The former is argued to be a likely candidate for the ground state of the original Kagome magnet which thereby exhibits a specific pattern of dimer ordering with a large unit cell. Comparisons with available numerical results are made.
This thesis is focused on the application and development of numerical methods for studying quantum many- body spin systems. Part I sets the stage for research projects. In chapter 1, I go over major milestones in the field of frustrated magnetism, how it fits into a larger category of condensed matter physics, and recent developments that provide context for the research projects presented in part II. Chapters 2 3 provide the reader with necessary concepts in physics of phase transitions and numerical methods that are often employed when studying ground states of quantum many body systems. Part II focuses on the research projects carried out during my PhD research. In chapter 4 I present a machine-learning inspired method for solving quantum many body problems. This method addresses issues of representation of variational wave functions and their optimization. In chapter 5, I present a numerical study on the embedding of an exactly solvable point in a phase diagram of an extended Heisenberg model on a kagome lattice. Chapter 6 studies a quantum Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice. Phase transitions in quantum many body systems manifest themselves as a reorganization of low energy spectra of the system. They come in a variety of forms ranging from symmetry breaking transitions, where a local order parameter is formed and to topological phase transitions where the change of the ground state can be attributed to non-local changes in the entanglement patterns. In chapter 2, I review classic models studied in the context of frustrated magnetism and briefly go over the formulation of Landau symmetry breaking theory and common order parameters. The breakdown of Landau symmetry-breaking theory for topological phase transition is discussed using the example of Resonance Valence Bond (RVB) state, which serves as a qualitative exemplification of spin liquid phases. I discuss means of detecting phase transitions with a focus on methods that are applicable in a numerical setting. Chapter 3 presents elements of the numerical machinery that the rest of the thesis employs and builds upon. I discuss traditional trade-offs and provide rough metrics used for analysis of strengths and drawbacks of different approaches. Then I focus on Exact Diagonalization (ED) and Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) methods that are used in later chapters. In chapter 4, I describe the application of machine learning techniques to the variational approach to the quantum many body problem. I introduce Computational Graph States (CGS), a new class of variational wave functions based on the dataflow programming paradigm. The use of computational graphs makes composing new wave functions easy due to its modular structure. Automatic differentiation allows us to obtain efficient derivatives with respect to variational parameters automatically. We also develop a novel optimization scheme, Supervised Wave-function Optimization. It combines ideas of supervised learning and imaginary time evolution. Our method resolves a number of technical challenges and allows seamless optimization of complicated variational models. During the exploration process we constructed a new class of system size invariant model wave functions that can be trained on one system size and generalized to other system sizes with high accuracy. In chapter 5, we study the phase diagram of the kagome antiferromagnet in the J2, Jz plane, which corresponds to second nearest neighbor interactions and spin anisotropy. We report an exactly solvable point with macroscopic degeneracy at J2 = 0, Jz = −0.5 and show that many phases emanate from around this point. In addition, we find a previously unknown transition within the spin-liquid region suggesting a possibility of two distinct spin liquids. In chapter 6, we consider a Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice which interpolated between the triangular and honeycomb lattices. Using exact diagonalization we compute the phase diagram of this model. We find that for this model, the triangular lattice J1-J2 spin liquid region is extended to a larger domain that has lower symmetries than that of the triangular lattice. We perform a variational study of projected BCS wave functions which we directly compare to exact ground states on 36 site cluster as well as consider variational energies from larger system sizes. We argue that construction of symmetric states is essential to obtain good variational energies and give evidence that Dirac spin-liquid state is likely to characterize the spin liquid phase.