The spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a square lattice and its application to the cuprous oxides

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Reviews of Modern Physics; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.63.1· OSTI ID:5461905

Manousakis, E ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4052 (USA) Center for Materials Research and Technology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4052 (USA)

The spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a square lattice is used to describe the dynamics of the spin degrees of freedom of undoped copper oxides. Even though the model lacks an exact solution, a solid, accurate, and rather conventional picture emerges from a number of techniques---analytical (spin-wave theory, Schwinger boson mean-field theory, renormalization-group calculations), semianalytical (variational theory, series expansions), and numerical (quantum Monte Carlo, exact diagonalization, etc.). At zero temperature, the effect of the zero-point fluctuations is not strong enough to destroy the antiferromagnetic long-range order, despite the fact that we are dealing with a low-spin low-dimensional system. The corrections to the spin-wave theory, which treats perturbatively the effect of such fluctuations around the classical Neel ground state, appear to be small. At any nonzero temperature the order disappears and the correlation length at low temperature {ital T}({ital k}{sub {ital B}T}/{ital J}{much lt}1, where {ital J} is the antiferromagnetic coupling) follows the singular form {xi}({ital T})={ital C} exp({alpha} {ital J}/{ital k}{sub {ital B}T}).

• OSTI ID: 5461905
• Journal Information: Reviews of Modern Physics; (USA), Vol. 63:1; ISSN 0034-6861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
HEISENBERG MODEL
COPPER OXIDES
BARIUM OXIDES
DEGREES OF FREEDOM
GROUND STATES
HAMILTONIANS
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
LANTHANUM OXIDES
MEAN-FIELD THEORY
SPIN
SPIN WAVES
YTTRIUM OXIDES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
BARIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
CRYSTAL MODELS
ENERGY LEVELS
LANTHANUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNETIC MATERIALS
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
QUANTUM OPERATORS
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
SUPERCONDUCTORS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
656002* - Condensed Matter Physics- General Techniques in Condensed Matter- (1987-)
656100 - Condensed Matter Physics- Superconductivity