Quantum Phase Transition in the Twisted Three-Leg Spin Tube

TL;DR

This study explores quantum phase transitions in a twisted three-leg spin tube with easy-plane anisotropy, revealing conditions for the emergence and disappearance of a 1/3 magnetization plateau through numerical analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed phase diagram and identifies the quantum phase transition between plateau and non-plateau phases in this model.

Findings

Existence of a 1/3 magnetization plateau under certain anisotropy conditions

Identification of a quantum phase transition between plateau and non-plateau phases

Numerical phase diagram mapping the transition regions

Abstract

We investigate the spin-1/2 twisted three-leg antiferromagnetic quantum spin tube in the presence of the easy-plane anisotropy, using the numerical diagonalization of finite-size clusters. And we observe cases of the existence and the absence of magnetization plateau at 1/3 height of saturation magnetization when the anisotropy is tuned. The phenomenological-renormalization analysis indicates a quantum phase transition between the 1/3 magnetization plateau phase and the plateauless one. The phase diagram is also presented.