Spiral correlations in frustrated one-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg J1-J2-J3 ferromagnets

TL;DR

This paper investigates how third-neighbor exchange interactions influence the ground state and spiral correlations in frustrated one-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains, revealing quantum tricritical points and transition behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces a combined use of coupled cluster and exact diagonalization methods to analyze the impact of J3 on the quantum phase transitions in frustrated chains.

Findings

Critical J2 values depend on J3, affecting ground state transitions.

Transition type (continuous or discontinuous) varies with J3 sign and magnitude.

Identification of quantum tricritical points in the phase diagram.

Abstract

We use the coupled cluster method for infinite chains complemented by exact diagonalization of finite periodic chains to discuss the influence of a third-neighbor exchange J3 on the ground state of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain with ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interaction J1 and frustrating antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interaction J2. A third-neighbor exchange J3 might be relevant to describe the magnetic properties of the quasi-one-dimensional edge-shared cuprates, such as LiVCuO4 or LiCu2O2. In particular, we calculate the critical point J2^c as a function of J3, where the ferromagnetic ground state gives way for a ground state with incommensurate spiral correlations. For antiferromagnetic J3 the ferro-spiral transition is always continuous and the critical values J2^c of the classical and the quantum model coincide. On the other hand, for ferromagnetic J3 \lesssim -(0.01...0.02)|J1| the critical value J2^c of the quantum model is smaller than that of the classical model. Moreover, the transition becomes discontinuous, i.e. the model exhibits a quantum tricritical point. We also calculate the height of the jump of the spiral pitch angle at the discontinuous ferro-spiral transition.