Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 1808.05841

Collective excitations in spin-1/2 magnets through bond-operator formalism designed both for paramagnetic and ordered phases

Abstract

We present a bond-operator theory (BOT) suitable for description both magnetically ordered phases and paramagnetic phases with singlet ground states in spin-1/2 magnets. Proposed BOT provides a regular expansion of physical quantities in powers of 1/n, where n is the maximum number of bosons which can occupy a unit cell (physical results correspond to n=1). Two variants of BOT are suggested: for two and for four spins in the unit cell (two-spin and four-spin BOTs, respectively). We consider spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet (HAF) on simple square lattice bilayer by the two-spin BOT. Ground-state energy E, staggered magnetization M, and quasiparticles spectra found within the first order in 1/n are in good quantitative agreement with previous results both in paramagnetic and in ordered phases not very close to the quantum critical point between the phases. By doubling the unit cell in two directions, we discuss spin-1/2 HAF on square lattice using the suggested four-spin BOT. Magnon spectrum, E, and M found in the first order in 1/n are in good quantitative agreement with previous numerical and experimental results. We observe a special moderately damped spin-0 quasiparticle ("singlon" for short) whose energy is smaller than the energy of the Higgs mode in the most part of the Brillouin zone. By considering HAF with Izing-type anisotropy, we find that both Higgs and "singlon" modes stem from two-magnon bound states which merge with two-magnon continuum not far from the isotropic limit. We demonstrate that "singlons" appear explicitly in "scalar" correlators one of which describes the Raman intensity in $B_{1g}$ symmetry. The latter is expressed in the leading order in 1/n via the "singlon" Green's function at zero momentum which shows an asymmetric peak. The position of this peak coincides with the position of "two-magnon" peak observed experimentally in, e.g., layered cuprates.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

A. V. Syromyatnikov. 2018-11-20. Collective excitations in spin-1/2 magnets through bond-operator formalism designed both for paramagnetic and ordered phases. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.98.184421

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Spontaneous Parity Breaking in Quantum Antiferromagnets on the Triangular Lattice

Frustration on the triangular lattice has long been a source of intriguing and often debated phases in many-body systems. Although symmetry analysis has been employed, the role of the seemingly trivial parity symmetry has received little attention. In this work, we show that phases induced by frustration are systematically shaped by an implicit rule-of-thumb associated with spontaneous parity breaking in weak longitudinal field. This principle enables us to anticipate and rationalize the regimes and conditions under which nontrivial phases emerge. For the spin-$S$ antiferromagnetic XXZ model, we demonstrate that a controversial parity-broken phase appears at intermediate values of $S$. In bilayer systems, enhanced frustration leads to additional phases, such as supersolids, whose properties can be classified by their characteristic parity features. Benefiting from our improved tensor network contraction techniques, we confirm these results through large-scale tensor-network calculations. This study offers an alternative viewpoint and a systematic approach for examining the interplay between spin, symmetry, and frustration in many-body systems.

cond-mat.str-el

Directional Criticality and Higher-Order Flatness: Designing Van Hove Singularities in Three Dimensions

Van Hove singularities (VHSs) play a pivotal role in driving correlated electronic phenomena. Traditional classifications focus only on critical points where the band gradient vanishes in all directions. Here we establish a unified classification of VHSs in three-dimensional systems, characterized by the number of vanishing gradient components and Hessian eigenvalues: ordinary ($M$-type), higher-order ($T_1$, $T_2$, $T_3$), noncritical ordinary ($N_0$, $N_1$, $N_2$), and noncritical higher-order ($S_1$, $S_2$) types. Noncritical VHSs exhibit directional quenching: the gradient vanishes in a two-dimensional subspace while remaining finite along the orthogonal direction, yielding finite density-of-states enhancements with distinct energy dependencies. Using an $s$-orbital tight-binding model on the pyrochlore lattice with spin-orbit coupling, we demonstrate that all singularity classes emerge at distinct high-symmetry points through controlled tuning of the hopping ratio. This work establishes directional criticality and higher-order flatness as design principles for tailoring density-of-states enhancements in three-dimensional quantum materials.

cond-mat.str-el

Quantum Rotors on the Fuzzy Sphere and the Cubic CFT

The three-dimensional cubic conformal field theory governs the critical behaviour of Heisenberg magnets with cubic anisotropy. Studying this theory non-perturbatively is challenging, because its most easily accessible observables are numerically very close to those of the more symmetric $O(3)$ model. In this work, we overcome this difficulty using the fuzzy sphere regularisation method. By adding a cubic-invariant two-body interaction to the quantum rotor Hamiltonian used for the $O(3)$ model, we break the continuous rotational symmetry by construction and unambiguously isolate the cubic critical point. Using exact diagonalisation and the density matrix renormalisation group, we calculate the scaling dimensions of several key operators, including the leading scalar singlets, and resolve the splitting of the $O(3)$ rank-two traceless symmetric tensor into the $E_g$ and $T_{2g}$ representations of the cubic group. Our results are consistent with existing Monte Carlo, conformal perturbation theory, and $\varepsilon$ expansion benchmarks, demonstrating the power of the fuzzy sphere in resolving closely spaced universality classes.

cond-mat.str-el