Exact ground states of quantum spin-2 models on the hexagonal lattice

We construct exact non-trivial ground states of spin-2 quantum antiferromagnets on the hexagonal lattice. Using the optimum ground state approach we determine the ground state in different subspaces of a general spin-2 Hamiltonian consistent with some realistic symmetries. These states, which are not of simple product form, depend on two free parameters and can be shown to be only weakly degenerate. We find ground states with different types of magnetic order, i.e. a weak antiferromagnet with finite sublattice magnetization and a weak ferromagnet with ferrimagnetic order. For the latter it is argued that a quantum phase transition occurs within the solvable subspace.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Mixed Heisenberg Chains. II. Thermodynamics

We consider thermodynamic properties, e.g. specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, of alternating Heisenberg spin chains. Due to a hidden Ising symmetry these chains can be decomposed into a set of finite chain fragments. The problem of finding the thermodynamic quantities is effectively separated into two parts. First we deal with finite objects, secondly we can incorporate the fragments into a statistical ensemble. As functions of the coupling constants, the models exhibit special features in the thermodynamic quantities, e.g. the specific heat displays double peaks at low enough temperatures. These features stem from first order quantum phase transitions at zero temperature, which have been investigated in the first part of this work.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX, 12 embedded eps figures, cf. cond-mat/9703206, minor modification

Mixed Heisenberg Chains. I. The Ground State Problem

We consider a mechanism for competing interactions in alternating Heisenberg spin chains due to the formation of local spin-singlet pairs. The competition of spin-1 and spin-0 states reveals hidden Ising symmetry of such alternating chains.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, 4 embedded eps figures, final versio