We study S=1/2 Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice with first and second neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange (J_{1}-J_{2} model), employing exact diagonalization in both S_z=0 basis and nearest neighbor singlet valence bond (NNVB) basis. We find that for 0.2<J_2/J_1<0.3, NNVB basis gives a proper description of the ground state in comparison with the exact results. By analyzing the dimer-dimer as well as plaquette-plaquette correlations and also defining appropriate structure factors, we investigate possible symmetry breaking states as the candidate for the ground state in the frustrated region. We provide body of evidences in favor of plaquette valence bond ordering for 0.2<J_2/J_1<0.3. By further increasing the ratio J_2/J_1, this state undergoes a transition to the staggered dimerized state.
Quantum spin liquids are materials that feature quantum entangled spin correlations and avoid magnetic long-range order at T = 0 K. Particularly interesting are two-dimensional honeycomb spin lattices where a plethora of exotic quantum spin liquids have been predicted. Here, we experimentally study an effective S=1/2 Heisenberg honeycomb lattice with competing nearest and next-nearest neighbor interactions. We demonstrate that YbBr$_3$ avoids order down to at least T=100 mK and features a dynamic spin-spin correlation function with broad continuum scattering typical of quantum spin liquids nea…
We have precisely determined the ground state phase diagram of the quantum spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice using the tensor renormalization group method. We find that the ferromagnetic, ferroquadrupolar, and a large part of the antiferromagnetic phases are stable against quantum fluctuations. However, around the phase where the ground state is antiferroquadrupolar ordered in the classical limit, quantum fluctuations suppress completely all magnetic orders, leading to a plaquette order phase which breaks the lattice symmetry but preserves the spin SU(2) sym…
A number of topological nodes including Dirac, quadratic and triple band touching points as well as a pair of degenerate Dirac line nodes are found to emerge in the triplet plaquette excitations of the frustrated spin-1/2 $J_1$-$J_2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg honeycomb model when the ground state of the system lies in a spin-disordered plaquette-valence-bond-solid phase. A six-spin plaquette operator theory of this honeycomb model has been developed for this purpose by using the eigenstates of an isolated Heisenberg hexagonal plaquette. Spin-1/2 operators are thus expressed in the Fock spac…
Using the density matrix renormalization group, we investigate the $S=1/2$ Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice with first- ($J_1$) and second-neighbor ($J_2$) interactions. We are able to study long open cylinders with widths up to 12 lattice spacings. For $J_2/J_1$ near 0.3, we find an apparently paramagnetic phase, bordered by an antiferromagnetic phase for $J_2\lesssim 0.26$ and by a valence bond crystal for $J_2\gtrsim 0.36$. The longest correlation length that we find in this intermediate phase is for plaquette valence bond (PVB) order. This correlation length grows strongly with cy…
We use fermion mean field theory to study possible plaquette ordering in the antiferromagnetic SU(4) Heisenberg model. We find the ground state for both the square and triangular lattices to be the disconnected plaquette state. Our mean field theory gives a first order transition for plaquette ordering for the triangular lattice. Our results suggest a large number of low lying states.
We study the proposed plaquette-RVB (pRVB) state in the honeycomb lattice $J_1-J_2$ model with frustration arising from next-nearest neighbour interactions. Starting with the limit of decoupled hexagons, we develop a plaquette operator approach to describe the pRVB state and its low energy excitations. Our calculation clarifies that the putative pRVB state necessarily has f-wave symmetry - the plaquette wavefunction is an antisymmetric combination of the Kekulé structures. We estimate the plaquette ordering amplitude, ground state energy and spin gap as a function of $J_2/J_1$. The pRVB state …
Conflicting predictions have been made for the ground state of the SU(3) Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice: Tensor network simulations found a plaquette order [Zhao et al, Phys. Rev. B 85, 134416 (2012)], where singlets are formed on hexagons, while linear flavor-wave theory (LFWT) suggested a dimerized, color ordered state [Lee and Yang, Phys. Rev. B 85, 100402 (2012)]. In this work we show that the former state is the true ground state by a systematic study with infinite projected-entangled pair states (iPEPS), for which the accuracy can be systematically controlled by the so-called …
Using both exact diagonalizations and diagonalizations in a subset of short-range valence bond singlets, we address the nature of the groundstate of the Heisenberg spin-1/2 antiferromagnet on the square lattice with competing next-nearest and next-next-nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic couplings (J1-J2-J3 model). A detailed comparison of the two approaches reveals a region along the line (J2+J3)/J1=1/2, where the description in terms of nearest-neighbor singlet coverings is excellent, therefore providing evidence for a magnetically disordered region. Furthermore a careful analysis of dimer-di…
We study the properties of a mobile hole in the $t-J$ model on the square lattice by means of variational Monte Carlo simulations based on the entangled-plaquette ansatz. Our energy estimates for small lattices reproduce available exact results. We obtain values for the hole energy dispersion curve on large lattices in quantitative agreement with earlier findings based on the most reliable numerical techniques. Accurate estimates of the hole spectral weight are provided.
We extend the definition of the Jordan-Wigner transformation to three dimensions using the generalization of ideas that were used in the two-dimensional case by one of the present authors. Under this transformation, the 3D XY Hamiltonian is transformed into a system of spinless fermions coupled to a gauge field with only two components. We calculate the flux per plaquette for the 3 elementary perpendicular plaquettes of a cubic lattice, and find that it is nonzero for only two of the plaquettes. We provide a simple interpretation for the average phase-per-plaquette being $π$ on the plaquettes …
We apply the plaquette renormalization scheme of tensor network states [Phys. Rev. E, 83, 056703 (2011)] to study the spin-1/2 frustrated Heisenberg J1-J2 model on a L*L square lattice with L = 8, 16 and 32. By treating tensor elements as variational parameters, we obtain the ground states for different J2/J1 values, and investigate the staggered magnetic order parameters, the nearest-neighbor spin-spin correlations and the plaquette order parameters. In addition to the well-known Néel-order and collinear-order at low and high J2/J1, we observe a plaquette order at intermediate J2/J1. A contin…
Using the coupled cluster method for high orders of approximation and Lanczos exact diagonalization we study the ground-state phase diagram of a quantum spin-1/2 J1-J2 model on the square lattice with plaquette structure. We consider antiferromagnetic (J1>0) as well as ferromagnetic (J1<0) nearest-neighbor interactions together with frustrating antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interaction J2>0. The strength of inter-plaquette interaction lambda varies between lambda=1 (that corresponds to the uniform J1-J2 model) and lambda=0 (that corresponds to isolated frustrated 4-spin plaquettes). …
Ground-state properties of the spin-1 two-leg antiferromagnetic ladder are investigated precisely by means of the quantum Monte Carlo method. It is found that the correlation length along the chains and the spin gap both remain finite regardless of the strength of interchain coupling, i.e., the Haldane state and the spin-1 dimer state are connected smoothly without any quantum phase transitions between them. We propose a plaquette-singlet solid state, which qualitatively describes the ground state of the spin-1 ladder quite well, and also a corresponding topological hidden order parameter. It …
A family of spin-orbit coupled honeycomb Mott insulators offers a playground to search for quantum spin liquids (QSLs) via bond-dependent interactions. In candidate materials, a symmetric off-diagonal $Γ$ term, close cousin of Kitaev interaction, has emerged as another source of frustration that is essential for complete understanding of these systems. However, the ground state of honeycomb $Γ$ model remains elusive, with a suggested zigzag magnetic order. Here we attempt to resolve the puzzle by perturbing the $Γ$ region with a staggered Heisenberg interaction which favours the zigzag orderin…
High-frequency ESR results on the S=1/2 Heisenberg hexagonal antiferromagnet InCu2/3V1/3O3 are reported. This compound appears to be a rare model substance for the honeycomb lattice antiferromagnet with very weak interlayer couplings. The high-temperature magnetic susceptibility can be interpreted by the S=1/2 honeycomb lattice antiferromagnet, and it shows a magnetic-order-like anomaly at TN=38 K. Although, the resonance field of our high-frequency ESR shows the typical behavior of the antiferromagnetic resonance, the linewidth of our high-frequency ESR continues to increase below TN, while i…
We study, on the basis of the general entangled-plaquette variational ansatz, the ground-state properties of the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice. Our numerical estimates are in good agreement with available exact results and comparable, for large system sizes, to those computed via the best alternative numerical approaches, or by means of variational schemes based on specific (i.e., incorporating problem dependent terms) trial wave functions. The extrapolation to the thermodynamic limit of our results for lattices comprising up to N=324 spins yields an upp…
Motivated by the current interest in the quantum dimer model on the triangular lattice, we investigate the phase diagram of the closely related fully-frustrated transverse field Ising model on the honeycomb lattice using classical and semi-classical approximations. We show that, in addition to the fully polarized phase at large field, the classical model possesses a multitude of phases that break the translational symmetry which in the dimer language, correspond to a plaquette phase and a columnar phase separated by an infinite cascade of mixed phases. The modification of the phase diagram by …
The phase diagram of the uniaxially anisotropic $s=1$ antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice includes a critical line exactly described by the classical three-color model. This line is distinct from the standard geometric classical criticality that appears in the classical limit ($s \to \infty$) of the 2D XY model; the $s=1$ geometric T=0 critical line separates two unconventional plaquette-ordered phases that survive to nonzero temperature. The experimentally important correlations at finite temperature and the nature of the transitions into these ordered phases are obtained using the mapping …
As a model for the B 2pz bands of MgB$_2$, a half-filled Hubbard model on a honeycomb lattice is studied, and a possibility of an antiferromagnetism (AF) at the ground state is examined by Monte Carlo calculations as well as a random phase approximation method. On a single-layer honeycomb lattice, a paramagnetic to AF phase transition occurs at a finite value of the repulsion energy $U_c/t \simeq 3.6$, due to the loss of the density of states at the fermi level. On a layered honeycomb lattice, however, inter-layer hopping term creates a perfect nesting of the fermi surface, and leads the AF wi…
Bi3Mn4O12(NO3), in which the Mn4+ ions carry S=3/2, is the first honeycomb lattice system that shows no long-range magnetic order. Using neutron scattering, we have determined that short-range antiferromagnetic correlations develop at low temperatures. Applied magnetic fields induce a magnetic transition, in which the short-range order abruptly expands into a long-range order.
We show that the entangled-plaquette variational ansatz can be adapted to study the two-dimensional $t-J$ model in the presence of two mobile holes. Specifically, we focus on a square lattice comprising up to $N=256$ sites in the parameter range $0.4\leq J/ t\leq2.0$. Ground state energies are obtained via the optimization of a wave function in which the weight of a given configuration is expressed in terms of variational coefficients associated with square and linear entangled plaquettes. Our estimates are in excellent agreement with exact results available for the $N=16$ lattice. By extendin…
We investigate a microscopic origin of nonreciprocal magnon that is distinct from the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in a honeycomb antiferromagnet. The key ingredient is a symmetric anisotropic exchange interaction depending on the bond direction, which results in a valley-type nonreciprocal magnon excitations under the staggered antiferromagnetic ordering. Furthermore, we find this type of nonreciprocal magnon exhibits a peculiar magnetic-field response; the nonreciprocal direction can be manipulated by the in-plane rotating magnetic field. The obtained results can be accounted for the em…
New frustrated antiferromagnetic compounds CuRE2Ge2O8 (RE=Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu) have been investigated using high-resolution x-ray diffraction, magnetic and heat capacity measurements. These systems show different magnetic lattices depending on rare-earth element. The nonmagnetic Eu compound is a S=1/2 two-dimensional triangular antiferromagnetic lattice oriented in the ac plane with geometrical frustration. On the other hand, the Pr, Nd, and Sm compounds show a three-dimensional honeycomb-tunnel-like lattice made of RE^3+ running along the a axis with the characteristic behavior of frustrated antif…
We study the plaquette valence-bond solid phase of the spin-1/2 J_1-J_2 antiferromagnet Heisenberg model on the square lattice within the bond-operator theory. We start by considering four S = 1/2 spins on a single plaquette and determine the bond operator representation for the spin operators in terms of singlet, triplet, and quintet boson operators. The formalism is then applied to the J_1-J_2 model and an effective interacting boson model in terms of singlets and triplets is derived. The effective model is analyzed within the harmonic approximation and the previous results of Zhitomirsky an…
Motivated by the recent numerical simulations for doped $t$-$J$ model on the honeycomb lattice, we study superconductivity of singlet and triplet pairing on the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model. We show that a superconducting state with coexisting spin-singlet and spin-triplet pairings is induced by the antiferromagnetic order near half filling. The superconducting state we obtain has a topological phase transition that separates a topologically trivial state and a nontrivial state with Chern number two. Possible experimental realization of such a topological superconductivity is also discussed…
Using the density-matrix renormalization group, we determine the phase diagram of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a honeycomb lattice with a nearest neighbor interaction J1 and a frustrating, next-neighbor exchange J2. As frustration increases, the ground state exhibits Neel, plaquette and dimer orders, with critical points at J2/J1 = 0.22 and 0.35. We observe that both the spin gap and the corresponding order parameters vanish continuously at both the critical points, indicating the presence of deconfined quantum criticality.
The topological properties of massive and massless fermionic quasiparticles have been intensively investigated over the past decade in topological materials without magnetism. Recently, the bosonic analogs of such quasiparticles arising from spin waves have been reported in the two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice ferromagnet/antiferromagnet and the 3D antiferromagnet. Here we use time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering to study spin waves of the S = 1 honeycomb lattice antiferromagnet BaNi2(AsO4)2, which has a zig-zag antiferromagnetic (AF) ground state identical to that of the Kitaev q…
It was known that by a duality transformation, interaction bosons at filling factor $ f=p/q $ hopping on a lattice can be mapped to interacting vortices hopping on the dual lattice subject to a fluctuating{\em dual} " magnetic field" whose average strength through a dual plaquette is equal to the boson density $ f=p/q $.So the kinetic term of the vortices is the same as the Hofstadter problem of electrons moving in a lattice in the presence of $ f=p/q $ flux per plaquette. Motivated by this mapping, we study the Hofstadter bands of vortices hopping in the presence of magnetic flux $ f=p/q $ pe…
We theoretically propose possible magnetism-induced negative thermal expansion in honeycomb-lattice antiferromagnets with edge-sharing networks of $MX_6$ octahedra where $M$ and $X$ are transition-metal and ligand ions, respectively. In this crystal structure, the nearest-neighbor exchange interaction is composed of two competing contributions, i.e., the antiferromagnetic contribution from a direct 180$^\circ$ $M$-$M$ bond and the ferromagnetic contribution from 90$^\circ$ $M$-$X$-$M$ bonds, amplitudes of which have different bond-length dependence. Numerical analysis of the spin-lattice model…
We calculate the two-magnon Raman scattering spectra in antiferromagnetic phases of several frustrated spin models defined on the honeycomb lattice. These include the Néel antiferromagnetic phase of a $J_1$-$J_2$-$J_3$ model and the stripe phase of the Heisenberg-Kitaev model. We show that both the magnetic frustration and the anisotropy of interactions may significantly affect the Raman spectra. We further discuss the implications of our results to the magnetic excitations of the iron-based compound BaFe$_2$Se$_2$O and show how the magnetic interactions can be extracted from fit to the Raman …
Frustrated bilayer quantum magnets have attracted attention as flat-band spin systems with unconventional thermodynamic properties. We study the low-temperature properties of a frustrated honeycomb-lattice bilayer spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ isotropic ($XXX$) Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a magnetic field by means of an effective low-energy theory using exact diagonalizations and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Our main focus is on the magnetization curve and the temperature dependence of the specific heat indicating a finite-temperature phase transition in high magnetic fields.
Using variational wave functions and Monte Carlo techniques, we study the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with first-neighbor $J_1$ and second-neighbor $J_2$ antiferromagnetic couplings on the honeycomb lattice. We perform a systematic comparison of magnetically ordered and nonmagnetic states (spin liquids and valence-bond solids) to obtain the ground-state phase diagram. Néel order is stabilized for small values of the frustrating second-neighbor coupling. Increasing the ratio $J_2/J_1$, we find strong evidence for a continuous transition to a nonmagnetic phase at $J_2/J_1 \approx 0.23$. C…
We discover a new type of multiple-$q$ state, "ripple state", in a frustrated honeycomb-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet under magnetic fields. The ground state has an infinite ring-like degeneracy in the wavevector space, exhibiting a cooperative paramagnetic state, "ring-liquid" state. We elucidate that the system exhibits the ripple state as a new low-temperature thermodynamic phase via a second-order phase transition from the ring-liquid state, keeping the ring-like spin structure factor. The spin texture in real space looks like a "water ripple" and can induce a giant electric polarizat…
Magnetic field induced multiple non-Dirac nodal-lines are found to emerge in the triplet dispersion bands of a frustrated spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic model on the CaVO lattice. Plaquette and bond operator formalisms have been employed to obtain the triplet plaquette and bond excitations for two different parameter regimes in the presence of nearest and next-nearest-neighbor Heisenberg interactions based on the plaquette-resonating-valence-bond and dimerized ground states, respectively. In the absence of magnetic field a pair of six-fold degenerate nodal-loops with distinct topological feature i…
It is shown that the semimetallic state of the two-dimensional honeycomb lattice with a point-like Fermi surface is unstable towards a canted antiferromagnetic insulator upon application of an in-plane magnetic field. This instability is already present at the mean-field level; the magnetic field shifts the up- and the down-spin cones in opposite directions thereby generating a finite density of states at the Fermi surface and a perfect nesting between the up- and the down-spin Fermi sheets. This perfect nesting triggers a canted antiferromagnetic insulating state. Our conclusions, based on me…
We present numerical results for an $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a inhomogeneous square lattice with tunable interaction between spins belonging to different plaquettes. Employing Quantum Monte Carlo, we significantly improve on previous results for the the critical point separating singlet-disordered and Néel-ordered phases, and obtain an estimate for the critical exponent $ν$ consistent with the three-dimensional classical Heisenberg universality class. Additionally, we show that a fairly accurate result for the critical point can be obtained from a Contractor Renormalization (CORE)…
We present a spin-rotation-invariant Green-function theory for the dynamic spin susceptibility in the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a stacked honeycomb lattice. Employing a generalized mean-field approximation for arbitrary temperatures, the thermodynamic quantities (two-spin correlation functions, internal energy, magnetic susceptibility, staggered magnetization, N'eel temperature, correlation length) and the spin-excitation spectrum are calculated by solving a coupled system of self-consistency equations for the correlation functions. The temperature dependence of the magnet…
We study the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a bilayer honeycomb lattice including interlayer frustration. Using a set of complementary approaches, namely Schwinger bosons, dimer series expansion, bond operators, and exact diagonalization, we map out the quantum phase diagram. Analyzing ground state energies and elementary excitation spectra, we find four distinct phases, corresponding to three collinear magnetic long range ordered states, and one quantum disordered interlayer dimer phase. We detail, that the latter phase is adiabatically connected to an "exact" singlet product ground s…
The spin$-1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb bilayer lattice is shown to display a rich variety of semiclassical and genuinely quantum phases, controlled by the interplay between intralayer frustration and interlayer exchange. Employing a complementary set of techniques, comprising spin rotationally invariant Schwinger boson mean field theory, bond operators, and series expansions we unveil the quantum phase diagram, analyzing low-energy excitations and order parameters. By virtue of Schwinger bosons we scan the complete range of exchange parameters, covering both long range orde…
Strongly correlated systems with geometric frustrations can host the emergent phases of matter with unconventional properties. Here, we study the spin $S = 1$ Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice with the antiferromagnetic first- ($J_1$) and second-neighbor ($J_2$) interactions ($0.0 \leq J_2/J_1 \leq 0.5$) by means of density matrix renormalization group (DMRG). In the parameter regime $J_2/J_1 \lesssim 0.27$, the system sustains a Néel antiferromagnetic phase. At the large $J_2$ side $J_2/J_1 \gtrsim 0.32$, a stripe antiferromagnetic phase is found. Between the two magnetic ordered phas…
The spin-3/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the bilayer honeycomb lattice is a minimal model to describe the magnetic behavior of Bi$_3$Mn$_4$O$_{12}$(NO$_3$). We study this model with frustrating inter-layer second-neighbor couplings, taking into account quantum and thermal fluctuations. We use a path integral formulation in terms of coherent states to describe the low energy physics of the model. We show that for a particular point in the parameter space, close to the experimental estimated couplings, a continuum classical degeneracy is lifted by both quantum and thermal fluctuations, and a c…
The semimetal to antiferromagnet quantum phase transition of the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice has come to the forefront in the context of the proposal that a semimetal to spin liquid transition can occur before the transition to the antiferromagnetic phase. To study the semimetal to antiferromagnet transition, we generalize the two-particle self-consistent (TPSC) approach to the honeycomb lattice (a structure that can be realized in graphene for example). We show that the critical interaction strength where the transition occurs is $U_c/t=3.79\pm 0.01$ quite close to the value $U_c/t…
We use exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate that the Néel ground state of an antiferromagnetic SU(2) spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice can be destroyed by a coupling to quantum phonons. We find a clear first-order transition to a valence-bond-solid state with Kekulé order instead of a deconfined quantum critical point. However, quantum lattice fluctuations can drive the transition towards weakly first-order, revealing a tunability of the transition by the retardation of the interaction. In contrast to the one-dimensional case, our phase diagram in the…
We present an antiferromagnetic quantum spin-1/2 model on honeycomb lattice. It has two parts, one of which is the usual nearest-neighbor Heisenberg model. The other part is a certain multiple spin interaction term, introduced by us, which is exactly solvable for the ground state. Without the Heisenberg part, the model has an exact threefold degenerate dimer ground state. This exact ground state is also noted to exist for the general spin-S case. For the spin-1/2 case, we further carry out the triplon analysis in the ground state, to study the competition between the Heisenberg and the multipl…
We propose the existence of a symmetry-protected topological Dirac nodal line (DNL) magnonic phase in layered honeycomb collinear antiferromagnets even in the presence of spin-orbit Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. We show that the magnon spin Nernst effect, predicted to occur in strictly two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb collinear antiferromagnets cancels out in the layered honeycomb collinear antiferromagnets. In other words, the magnon spin Nernst effect in each 2D antiferromagnetic layer cancels out the succeeding layer. Hence, the Berry curvature vanish in the entire Brillouin zone due to …
We carried out inelastic neutron scattering experiments on a buckled honeycomb lattice antiferromagnet Ba$_{2}$NiTeO$_{6}$ exhibiting a stripe structure at a low temperature. Magnetic excitations are observed in the energy range of $\hbar ω\lesssim 10$ meV having an anisotropy gap of 2 meV at 2 K. We perform spin-wave calculations to identify the spin model. The obtained microscopic parameters are consistent with the location of the stripe structure in the classical phase diagram. Furthermore, the Weiss temperature independently estimated from a bulk magnetic susceptibility is consistent with …
We examine the existence of the interaction-generated quantum anomalous Hall phase on the honeycomb lattice. For the spinless model at half filling, the existence of a quantum anomalous Hall phase (Chern insulator phase) has been predicted using mean-field methods. However, recent exact diagonalization studies for small clusters with periodic boundary condition have not found a clear sign of an interaction-driven Chern insulator phase. We use exact diagonalization method to study properties of small clusters with open boundary condition and, contrary to previous studies, we find clear signatur…
We study the ground-state phase diagram of the quantum $J_1-J_2$ model on the honeycomb lattice by means of an entangled-plaquette variational ansatz. Values of energy and relevant order parameters are computed in the range $0\le {J_2}/{J_1} \le 1$. The system displays classical order for ${J_2}/{J_1}\lesssim 0.2$ (Néel), and for $J_2/J_1 \gtrsim 0.4$ (collinear). In the intermediate region, the ground-state is disordered. Our results show that the reduction of the half-filled Hubbard model to the model studied here does not yield accurate predictions.
In this paper we present a detailed study of the antiferromagnetic classical Heisenberg model on a bilayer honeycomb lattice in a highly frustrated regime in presence of a magnetic field. This study shows strong evidence of entropic order-by-disorder selection in different sectors of the magnetization curve. For antiferromagnetic couplings $J_1=J_x=J_p/3$, we find that at low temperatures there are two different regions in the magnetization curve selected by this mechanism with different number of soft and zero modes. These regions present broken $Z_2$ symmetry and are separated by a not fully…
We study the ground-state (gs) phase diagram of the frustrated spin-1/2 $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$-$J_{3}$ antiferromagnet with $J_{2} = J_{3} =κJ_1$ on the honeycomb lattice, using coupled-cluster theory and exact diagonalization methods. We present results for the gs energy, magnetic order parameter, spin-spin correlation function, and plaquette valence-bond crystal (PVBC) susceptibility. We find a Néel antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase for $κ< κ_{c_{1}} \approx 0.47$, a collinear striped AFM phase for $κ> κ_{c_{2}} \approx 0.60$, and a paramagnetic PVBC phase for $κ_{c_{1}} \lesssim κ\lesssim κ_{c_{2}}$. …
Using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) on wide cylinders, we study the phase diagram of the spin-1/2 XY model on the honeycomb lattice, with first-neighbor ($J_1 = 1$) and frustrating second-neighbor ($J_2>0$) interactions. For the intermediate frustration regime $0.22\lesssim J_2\lesssim0.36$, we find a surprising antiferromagnetic Ising phase, with ordered moments pointing along the z axis, despite the absence of any S_z_z interactions in the Hamiltonian. Surrounding this phase as a function of $J_2$ are antiferromagnetic phases with the moments pointing in the $x-y$ plane for…
In our previous work, we identify the Sublattice-Pairing State (SPS) in Schwinger-fermion representation as the spin liquid phase discovered in recent numerical study on a honeycomb lattice. In this paper, we show that SPS is identical to the zero-flux $Z_2$ spin liquid in Schwinger-boson representation found by Wang\cite{Wang2010} by an explicit duality transformation. SPS is connected to an \emph{unusual} antiferromagnetic ordered phase, which we term as chiral-antiferromagnetic (CAF) phase, by an O(4) critical point. CAF phase breaks the SU(2) spin rotation symmetry completely and has three…
We employ the spin cluster perturbation theory to investigate the dynamical properties of the antiferromagnetic $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$ Heisenberg model on the honeycomb lattice. We obtain the excitation spectra for all possible phases in the phase diagram, including the Néel phase, plaquette valence-bond-solid phase, dimer valence-bond-solid phase and stripe antiferromagnetic phase. In the Néel phase, besides the obvious renormalization of the magnon dispersion, we find that the spectrum exhibits a dome-shaped broad continuum around the second Brillouin zone (BZ) and the additional strong continuum c…
The magnetic properties of the two-dimensional, S=1 honeycomb antiferromagnet BaNi$_2$V$_2$O$_8$ have been comprehensively studied using DC susceptibility measurements and inelastic neutron scattering techniques. The magnetic excitation spectrum is found to be dispersionless within experimental resolution between the honeycomb layers, while it disperses strongly within the honeycomb plane where it consists of two gapped spin-wave modes. The magnetic excitations are compared to linear spin-wave theory allowing the Hamiltonian to be determined. The first- and second-neighbour magnetic exchange i…
For temperatures T well above the ordering temperature T*=3.0+-0.2K the magnetic properties of the metal-organic material Mn[C10H6(OH)(COO)]2x2H20 built from Mn^2+ ions and 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic anions can be described by a S=5/2 quantum antiferromagnet on a distorted honeycomb lattice with two different nearest neighbor exchange couplings J2 \approx 2J1 \approx 1.8K. Measurements of the magnetization M(H,T) as a function of a uniform external field H and of the uniform zero field susceptibility χ(T) are explained within the framework of a modified spin-wave approach which takes into account t…