Weak antiferromagnetism and dimer order in quantum systems of coupled tetrahedra

We analyze the phases of an S=1/2 spin model on a lattice of coupled tetrahedra. The presence of both Heisenberg and antisymmetric, Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions can lead to two types of symmetry-broken states: non-magnetic dimer order and, unexpectedly, exotic 4 sub-lattice weak antiferromagnetic order - a state with a generically small ordered moment and non-zero chirality. External magnetic field also induces weak antiferromagnetism co-existing with strong dimer correlations in the ground state. These states are formed as a result of broken Ising symmetries and exhibit a number of unusual properties.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Critical Dynamics of Singlet Excitations in a Frustrated Spin System

We construct and analyze a two-dimensional frustrated quantum spin model with plaquette order, in which the low-energy dynamics is controlled by spin singlets. At a critical value of frustration the singlet spectrum becomes gapless, indicating a quantum transition to a phase with dimer order. This T=0 transition belongs to the 3D Ising universality class, while at finite temperature a 2D Ising critical line separates the plaquette and dimerized phases. The magnetic susceptibility has an activated form throughout the phase diagram, whereas the specific heat exhibits a rich structure and a power law dependence on temperature at the quantum critical point. We argue that the novel quantum critical behavior associated with singlet criticality discussed in this work can be relevant to a wide class of quantum spin systems, such as antiferromagnets on Kagome and pyrochlore lattices, where the low-energy excitations are known to be spin singlets, as well as to the CAVO lattice and several recently discovered strongly frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnets.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, additional discussion and figure added, to appear in Phys. Rev.