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research article

Broken-Symmetry Ground States of the Heisenberg Model on the Pyrochlore Lattice

Astrakhantsev, Nikita
•
Westerhout, Tom
•
Tiwari, Apoorv
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October 29, 2021
Physical Review X (PRX)

The spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the pyrochlore lattice is an iconic frustrated three-dimensional spin system with a rich phase diagram. Besides hosting several ordered phases, the model is debated to possess a spin-liquid ground state when only nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions are present. Here, we contest this hypothesis with an extensive numerical investigation using both exact diagonalization and complementary variational techniques. Specifically, we employ a resonating-valence-bond-like, manyvariable, Monte Carlo ansatz and convolutional neural network quantum states for (variational) calculations with up to 4 x 43 and 4 x 33 spins, respectively. We demonstrate that these techniques yield consistent results, allowing for reliable extrapolations to the thermodynamic limit. We consider the (2; j2/j1) parameter space, with j2, j1 being nearest and next-to-nearest neighbor interactions and 2 the XXZ interaction anisotropy. Our main results are (1) the determination of the phase transition between the putative spin-liquid phase and the neighboring magnetically ordered phase and (2) a careful characterization of the ground state in terms of symmetry-breaking tendencies. We find clear indications of a dimer order with spontaneously broken inversion and rotational symmetry, calling the scenario of a featureless quantum spin liquid into question. Our work showcases how many-variable variational techniques can be used to make progress in answering challenging questions about three-dimensional frustrated quantum magnets.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041021
Web of Science ID

WOS:000714736300001

Author(s)
Astrakhantsev, Nikita
Westerhout, Tom
Tiwari, Apoorv
Choo, Kenny
Chen, Ao
Fischer, Mark H.
Carleo, Giuseppe  
Neupert, Titus
Date Issued

2021-10-29

Publisher

American Physical Society

Published in
Physical Review X (PRX)
Volume

11

Issue

4

Article Number

041021

Subjects

Physics, Multidisciplinary

•

Physics

•

monte-carlo

•

quantum fluctuations

•

spin liquid

•

antiferromagnet

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CQSL  
Available on Infoscience
November 20, 2021
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/183133
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