No Arabic abstract
Two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnets play a central role in quantum magnetism, yet the nature of dynamic correlations in these systems at finite temperature has remained poorly understood for decades. We solve this long-standing problem by using a novel quantum-classical duality to calculate the dynamic structure factor analytically and, paradoxically, find a broad frequency spectrum despite the very long quasiparticle lifetime. The solution reveals new multi-scale physics whereby an external probe creates a classical radiation field containing infinitely-many quanta. Crucially, it is the multi-scale nature of this phenomenon which prevents a conventional renormalization group approach. We also challenge the common wisdom on static correlations and perform Monte Carlo simulations which demonstrate excellent agreement with our theory.
Counterintuitive order-disorder phenomena emerging in antiferromagnetically coupled spin systems have been reported in various studies. Here we perform a systematic effective field theory analysis of two-dimensional bipartite quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnets subjected to either mutually aligned -- or mutually orthogonal -- magnetic and staggered fields. Remarkably, in the aligned configuration, the finite-temperature uniform magnetization $M_T$ grows as temperature rises. Even more intriguing, in the orthogonal configuration, $M_T$ first drops, goes through a minimum, and then increases as temperature rises. Unmasking the effect of the magnetic field, we furthermore demonstrate that the finite-temperature staggered magnetization $M^H_s$ and entropy density -- both exhibiting non-monotonic temperature dependence -- are correlated. Interestingly, in the orthogonal case, $M^H_s$ presents a maximum, whereas in mutually aligned magnetic and staggered fields, $M^H_s$ goes through a minimum. The different behavior can be traced back to the existence of an easy XY-plane that is induced by the magnetic field in the orthogonal configuration.
The correlated spin dynamics and the temperature dependence of the correlation length $xi(T)$ in two-dimensional quantum ($S=1/2$) Heisenberg antiferromagnets (2DQHAF) on square lattice are discussed in the light of experimental results of proton spin lattice relaxation in copper formiate tetradeuterate (CFTD). In this compound the exchange constant is much smaller than the one in recently studied 2DQHAF, such as La$_2$CuO$_4$ and Sr$_2$CuO$_2$Cl$_2$. Thus the spin dynamics can be probed in detail over a wider temperature range. The NMR relaxation rates turn out in excellent agreement with a theoretical mode-coupling calculation. The deduced temperature behavior of $xi(T)$ is in agreement with high-temperature expansions, quantum Monte Carlo simulations and the pure quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation. Contrary to the predictions of the theories based on the Non-Linear $sigma$ Model, no evidence of crossover between different quantum regimes is observed.
We use a quantum Monte Carlo method to calculate the Neel temperature T_N of weakly coupled S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic layers consisting of coupled ladders. This system can be tuned to different two-dimensional scaling regimes for T > T_N. In a single-layer mean-field theory, chi_s^{2D}(T_N)=(z_2J)^{-1}, where chi_s^{2D} is the exact staggered susceptibility of an isolated layer, J the inter-layer coupling, and z_2=2 the layer coordination number. With a renormalized z_2, we find that this relationship applies not only in the renormalized-classical regime, as shown previously, but also in the quantum-critical regime and part of the quantum-disordered regime. The renormalization is nearly constant; k_2 ~ 0.65-0.70. We also study other universal scaling functions.
We calculate the bipartite von Neumann and second Renyi entanglement entropies of the ground states of spin-1/2 dimerized Heisenberg antiferromagnets on a square lattice. Two distinct dimerization patterns are considered: columnar and staggered. In both cases, we concentrate on the valence bond solid (VBS) phase and describe such a phase with the bond-operator representation. Within this formalism, the original spin Hamiltonian is mapped into an effective interacting boson model for the triplet excitations. We study the effective Hamiltonian at the harmonic approximation and determine the spectrum of the elementary triplet excitations. We then follow an analytical procedure, which is based on a modified spin-wave theory for finite systems and was originally employed to calculate the entanglement entropies of magnetic ordered phases, and calculate the entanglement entropies of the VBS ground states. In particular, we consider one-dimensional (line) subsystems within the square lattice, a choice that allows us to consider line subsystems with sizes up to $L = 1000$. We combine such a procedure with the results of the bond-operator formalism at the harmonic level and show that, for both dimerized Heisenberg models, the entanglement entropies of the corresponding VBS ground states obey an area law as expected for gapped phases. For both columnar-dimer and staggered-dimer models, we also show that the entanglement entropies increase but do not diverge as the dimerization decreases and the system approaches the Neel--VBS quantum phase transition. Finally, the entanglement spectra associated with the VBS ground states are presented.
Quasi-two dimensional itinerant fermions in the Anti-Ferro-Magnetic (AFM) quantum-critical region of their phase diagram, such as in the Fe-based superconductors or in some of the heavy-fermion compounds, exhibit a resistivity varying linearly with temperature and a contribution to specific heat or thermopower proportional to $T ln T$. It is shown here that a generic model of itinerant AFM can be canonically transformed such that its critical fluctuations around the AFM-vector $Q$ can be obtained from the fluctuations in the long wave-length limit of a dissipative quantum XY model. The fluctuations of the dissipative quantum XY model in 2D have been evaluated recently and in a large regime of parameters, they are determined, not by renormalized spin-fluctuations but by topological excitations. In this regime, the fluctuations are separable in their spatial and temporal dependence and have a dynamical critical exponent $z =infty.$ The time dependence gives $omega/T$-scaling at criticality. The observed resistivity and entropy then follow directly. Several predictions to test the theory are also given.