Hysteresis loops and adiabatic Landau-Zener-St\"uckelberg transitions in the magnetic molecule V6_6

We have observed hysteresis loops and abrupt magnetization steps in the magnetic molecule V$_6$, where each molecule comprises a pair of identical spin triangles, in the temperature range 1-5 K for external magnetic fields $B$ with sweep rates of several Tesla/ms executing a variety of closed cycles. The hysteresis loops are accurately reproduced using a generalization of the Bloch equation based on direct one-phonon transitions between the instantaneous Zeeman-split levels of the ground state (an $S=1/2$ doublet) of each spin triangle. The magnetization steps occur for $B\approx 0$ and they are explained in terms of adiabatic Landau-Zener-St\"{u}ckelberg transitions between the lowest magnetic energy levels as modified by inter-triangle anisotropic exchange of order 0.4 K.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Quantum rotational band model for the Heisenberg molecular magnet Mo72Fe30

We derive the low temperature properties of the molecular magnet Mo72Fe30, where 30 Fe(3+) paramagnetic ions occupy the sites of an icosidodecahedron and interact via isotropic nearest-neighbour antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange. The key idea of our model (J.S. & M.L.) is that the low-lying excitations form a sequence of rotational bands, i.e., for each such band the excitation energies depend quadratically on the total spin quantum number. For temperatures below 50 mK we predict that the magnetisation is described by a staircase with 75 equidistant steps as the magnetic field is increased up to a critical value and saturated for higher fields. For higher temperatures thermal broadening effects wash out the staircase and yield a linear ramp below the critical field, and this has been confirmed by our measurements (R.M.). We demonstrate that the lowest two rotational bands are separated by an energy gap of 0.7 meV, and this could be tested by EPR and inelastic neutron scattering measurements. We also predict the occurrence of resonances at temperatures below 0.1 K in the proton NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate associated with level crossings. As rotational bands characterize the spectra of many magnetic molecules our method opens a new road towards a description of their low-temperature behaviour which is not otherwise accessible.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for Europhysics Letter

Approximating parabolas as natural bounds of Heisenberg spectra: Reply on the comment of O. Waldmann

O. Waldmann has shown that some spin systems, which fulfill the condition of a weakly homogeneous coupling matrix, have a spectrum whose minimal or maximal energies are rather poorly approximated by a quadratic dependence on the total spin quantum number. We comment on this observation and provide the new argument that, under certain conditions, the approximating parabolas appear as natural bounds of the spectrum generated by spin coherent states.Comment: 2 pages, accepted for Europhysics Letter

Continuous families of isospectral Heisenberg spin systems and the limits of inference from measurements

We investigate classes of quantum Heisenberg spin systems which have different coupling constants but the same energy spectrum and hence the same thermodynamical properties. To this end we define various types of isospectrality and establish conditions for their occurence. The triangle and the tetrahedron whose vertices are occupied by spins 1/2 are investigated in some detail. The problem is also of practical interest since isospectrality presents an obstacle to the experimental determination of the coupling constants of small interacting spin systems such as magnetic molecules

Metamagnetic phase transition of the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg icosahedron

The observation of hysteresis effects in single molecule magnets like Mn$_{12}$-acetate has initiated ideas of future applications in storage technology. The appearance of a hysteresis loop in such compounds is an outcome of their magnetic anisotropy. In this Letter we report that magnetic hysteresis occurs in a spin system without any anisotropy, specifically, where spins mounted on the vertices of an icosahedron are coupled by antiferromagnetic isotropic nearest-neighbor Heisenberg interaction giving rise to geometric frustration. At T=0 this system undergoes a first order metamagnetic phase transition at a critical field \Bcrit between two distinct families of ground state configurations. The metastable phase of the system is characterized by a temperature and field dependent survival probability distribution.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Low temperature magnetization and the excitation spectrum of antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin rings

Accurate results are obtained for the low temperature magnetization versus magnetic field of Heisenberg spin rings consisting of an even number N of intrinsic spins s = 1/2, 1, 3/2, 2, 5/2, 3, 7/2 with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange by employing a numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo method. A straightforward analysis of this data, in particular the values of the level-crossing fields, provides accurate results for the lowest energy eigenvalue E(N,S,s) for each value of the total spin quantum number S. In particular, the results are substantially more accurate than those provided by the rotational band approximation. For s <= 5/2, data are presented for all even N <= 20, which are particularly relevant for experiments on finite magnetic rings. Furthermore, we find that for s > 1 the dependence of E(N,S,s) on s can be described by a scaling relation, and this relation is shown to hold well for ring sizes up to N = 80 for all intrinsic spins in the range 3/2 <= s <= 7/2. Considering ring sizes in the interval 8 <= N <= 50, we find that the energy gap between the ground state and the first excited state approaches zero proportional to 1/N^a, where a = 0.76 for s = 3/2 and a = 0.84 for s = 5/2. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of our present results for E(N,S,s) by examining the Fe12 ring-type magnetic molecule, leading to a new, more accurate estimate of the exchange constant for this system than has been obtained heretofore.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review B, 10 pages, 10 figure

Bounding and approximating parabolas for the spectrum of Heisenberg spin systems

We prove that for a wide class of quantum spin systems with isotropic Heisenberg coupling the energy eigenvalues which belong to a total spin quantum number S have upper and lower bounds depending at most quadratically on S. The only assumption adopted is that the mean coupling strength of any spin w.r.t. its neighbours is constant for all N spins. The coefficients of the bounding parabolas are given in terms of special eigenvalues of the N times N coupling matrix which are usually easily evaluated. In addition we show that the bounding parabolas, if properly shifted, provide very good approximations of the true boundaries of the spectrum. We present numerical examples of frustrated rings, a cube, and an icosahedron.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Europhysics Letter

Supersymmetric version of a Gaussian irrotational compressible fluid flow

The Lie point symmetries and corresponding invariant solutions are obtained for a Gaussian, irrotational, compressible fluid flow. A supersymmetric extension of this model is then formulated through the use of a superspace and superfield formalism. The Lie superalgebra of this extended model is determined and a classification of its subalgebras is performed. The method of symmetry reduction is systematically applied in order to derive special classes of invariant solutions of the supersymmetric model. Several new types of algebraic, hyperbolic, multi-solitonic and doubly periodic solutions are obtained in explicit form.Comment: Expanded introduction and added new section on classical Gaussian fluid flow. Included several additional reference

Rotational modes in molecular magnets with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange

In an effort to understand the low temperature behavior of recently synthesized molecular magnets we present numerical evidence for the existence of a rotational band in systems of quantum spins interacting with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange. While this result has previously been noted for ring arrays with an even number of spin sites, we find that it also applies for rings with an odd number of sites as well as for all of the polytope configurations we have investigated (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron, triangular prism, and axially truncated icosahedron). It is demonstrated how the rotational band levels can in many cases be accurately predicted using the underlying sublattice structure of the spin array. We illustrate how the characteristics of the rotational band can provide valuable estimates for the low temperature magnetic susceptibility.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.