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R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
Quantum Phases of the Cairo Pentagonal Lattice
Date: Thursday, March 31st
Time: 10:00 am
Place: 5310 Chamberlin
Speaker: Ioannis Rousochatzakis, Max-Planck Insitute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden
Abstract: We present an analytical and numerical study of the spin S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the Cairo pentagonal lattice. This is the dual of the Shastry-Sutherland lattice and has been discussed as a possible new candidate for having a spin liquid ground state [1]. More recently a S=5/2 version of this model has been realized in the Bi2Fe4O9 system [2]. Here we use a model with two different types of exchange couplings and investigate the nature of the ground state as a function of their ratio. This strategy allows us to understand the nature of a number of phases and derive effective models for their description with and without a magnetic field. Of particular interest is a surprising interplay between a collinear and a four-sublattice orthogonal phase due to an underlying order-by-disorder mechanism. Furthermore we address the issue of possible nonmagnetic ground states such as singlet and spin nematic phases.

References:
[1] K. S. Raman, R. Moessner, and S. L. Sondhi, PRB 72, 064413 (2005)
[2] E. Ressouche, V. Simonet, B. Canals, M. Gospodinov, and V. Skumryev, PRL 103, 267204 (2009)
Host: Natalia Perkins
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