Excitation Gap Scaling near Quantum Critical Three-Dimensional Antiferromagnets

By means of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we examine the quantum critical scaling of the magnetic excitation gap (the triplon gap) in a three-dimensional dimerized quantum antiferromagnet, the bicubic lattice, and identify characteristic multiplicative logarithmic scaling corrections atop the leading mean-field behavior. These findings are in accord with field-theoretical predictions that are based on an effective description of the quantum critical system in terms of an asymptotically-free field theory, which exhibits a logarithmic decay of the renormalized interaction strength upon approaching the quantum critical point. Furthermore, using bond-based singlet spectroscopy, we identify the amplitude (Higgs) mode resonance within the antiferromagnetic region. We find a Higgs mass scaling in accord with field-theoretical predictions that relate it by a factor of $\sqrt{2}$ to the corresponding triplon gap in the quantum disordered regime. In contrast to the situation in lower-dimensional systems, we observe in this three-dimensional coupled-dimer system a distinct signal from the amplitude mode also in the dynamical spin structure factor. The width of the Higgs mode resonance is observed to scale linearly with the Higgs mass near criticality, indicative of this critically well-defined excitation mode of the symmetry broken phase.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures 2 pages, 2 figures supplemental materia

Spin dynamics of the bilinear-biquadratic S=1S=1 Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice: a quantum Monte Carlo study

We study thermodynamic properties as well as the dynamical spin and quadrupolar structure factors of the O(3)-symmetric spin-1 Heisenberg model with bilinear-biquadratic exchange interactions on the triangular lattice. Based on a sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo approach, we access both the ferromagnetic and the ferroquadrupolar ordered, spin nematic phase as well as the SU(3)-symmetric point which separates these phases. Signatures of Goldstone soft-modes in the dynamical spin and the quadrupolar structure factors are identified, and the properties of the low-energy excitations are compared to the thermodynamic behavior observed at finite temperatures as well as to Schwinger-boson flavor-wave theory.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Critical Entropy of Quantum Heisenberg Magnets on Simple-Cubic Lattices

We analyze the temperature dependence of the entropy of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the three-dimensional simple-cubic lattice, for both the case of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic nearest neighbor exchange interactions. Using optimized extended ensemble quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we extract the entropy at the critical temperature for magnetic order from a finite-size scaling analysis. For the antiferromagnetic case, the critical entropy density equals 0.341(5)$k_B$, whereas for the ferromagnet, a larger value of 0.401(5) $k_B$ is obtained. We compare our simulation results to estimates put forward recently in studies assessing means of realizing the antiferromagnetic N\'eel state in ultra-cold fermion gases in optical lattices.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures; published versio

Quantum phase transitions in effective spin-ladder models for graphene zigzag nanoribbons

We examine the magnetic correlations in quantum spin models that were derived recently as effective low-energy theories for electronic correlation effects on the edge states of graphene nanoribbons. For this purpose, we employ quantum Monte Carlo simulations to access the large-distance properties, accounting for quantum fluctuations beyond mean-field-theory approaches to edge magnetism. For certain chiral nanoribbons, antiferromagnetic inter-edge couplings were previously found to induce a gapped quantum disordered ground state of the effective spin model. We find that the extended nature of the intra-edge couplings in the effective spin model for zigzag nanoribbons leads to a quantum phase transition at a large, finite value of the inter-edge coupling. This quantum critical point separates the quantum disordered region from a gapless phase of stable edge magnetism at weak intra-edge coupling, which includes the ground states of spin-ladder models for wide zigzag nanoribbons. To study the quantum critical behavior, the effective spin model can be related to a model of two antiferromagnetically coupled Haldane-Shastry spin-half chains with long-ranged ferromagnetic intra-chain couplings. The results for the critical exponents are compared also to several recent renormalization group calculations for related long-ranged interacting quantum systems.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figure

Pairing and chiral spin density wave instabilities on the honeycomb lattice: a comparative quantum Monte Carlo study

Using finite-temperature determinantal quantum Monte Carlo calculations, we re-examine the pairing susceptibilities in the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice, focusing on doping levels onto and away from the van Hove singularity (VHS) filling. For this purpose, electronic densities of $0.75$ (at the hole-doping VHS) and $0.4$ (well below the VHS) are considered in detail, where due to a severe sign problem at strong coupling strengths, we focus on the weak interaction region of the Hubbard model Hamiltonian. From analyzing the temperature dependence of pairing susceptibilities in various symmetry channels, we find the singlet $d$+$id$-wave to be the dominant pairing channel both at and away from the VHS filling. We furthermore investigate the electronic susceptibility to a specific chiral spin density wave (SDW) order, which we find to be similarly relevant at the VHS, while it extenuates upon doping away from the VHS filling.Comment: 8 pages, 14 figures. Accepted by PRB. Two figures added, more lattice sizes studie

Diagnosing Fractionalization from the Spin Dynamics of Z2Z_2 Spin Liquids on the Kagome Lattice by Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations

Based on large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we examine the dynamical spin structure factor of the Balents-Fisher-Girvin kagome lattice quantum spin-$1/2$ model, which is known to harbor an extended $Z_2$ quantum spin liquid phase. We use a correlation-matrix sampling scheme combined with a stochastic analytic continuation method to resolve the spectral functions of this anisotropic quantum spin model with a three-site unit-cell. Based on this approach, we monitor the spin dynamics throughout the phase diagram of this model, from the XY-ferromagnetic region to the $Z_2$ quantum spin liquid regime. In the latter phase, we identify a gapped two-spinon continuum in the transverse scattering channel, which is faithfully modeled by an effective spinon tight-binding model. Within the longitudinal channel, we identify gapped vison excitations and exhibit indications for the translational symmetry fractionalization of the visons via an enhanced spectral periodicity.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, v2: published versio

Magnetic Field Induced Ordering in Quasi-One-Dimensional Quantum Magnets

Three-dimensional magnetic ordering transitions are studied theoretically in strongly anisotropic quantum magnets. An external magnetic field can drive quasi-one-dimensional subsystems with a spin gap into a gapless regime, thus inducing long-range three-dimensional magnetic ordering due to weak residual magnetic coupling between the subsystems. Compounds with higher spin degrees of freedom, such as N-leg spin-1/2 ladders, are shown to have cascades of ordering transitions. At high magnetic fields, zero-point fluctuations within the quasi-1D subsystems are suppressed, causing quantum corrections to the ordering temperature to be reduced.Comment: RevTex, 12 pages with 4 figure

Monte Carlo study of the discontinuous quantum phase transition in the transverse-field Ising model on the pyrochlore lattice

The antiferromagnetic Ising model on the pyrochlore lattice exhibits a quantum phase transition in an applied transverse field from the low-field quantum spin-ice phase to the high-field polarized regime. Recent field-theoretical analysis and series expansion results indicate this to be a discontinuous, first-order transition. Here, we explore this transition using quantum Monte Carlo simulations in order to assess this scenario and study the thermodynamic properties in the vicinity of the quantum phase transition. For this purpose, we also consider several variants of extended cluster-update schemes for the transverse field Ising antiferromagnet on frustrated lattices and compare their performance to the conventional bond-based algorithm for the transverse field Ising model on the pyrochlore lattice.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, v2: as publishe