English

Z_2-vortex ordering of the triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet

Statistical Mechanics 2015-05-14 v2

Abstract

Ordering of the classical Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice is studied by means of a mean-field calculation, a scaling argument and a Monte Carlo simulation, with special attention to its vortex degree of freedom. The model exhibits a thermodynamic transition driven by the Z_2-vortex binding-unbinding, at which various thermodynamic quantities exhibit an essential singularity. The low-temperature state is a "spin-gel" state with a long but finite spin correlation length where the ergodicity is broken topologically. Implications to recent experiments on triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets are discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0909.0121,
  title  = {Z_2-vortex ordering of the triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet},
  author = {Hikaru Kawamura and Atsushi Yamamoto and Tsuyoshi Okubo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0909.0121},
  year   = {2015}
}