Thermodynamic properties of the $S=1/2$ twisted triangular spin tube

TL;DR

This study investigates the thermodynamic behavior of a twisted $S=1/2$ spin tube under magnetic field, revealing the significant role of chirality in low-temperature properties and phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the thermodynamic properties of the twisted spin tube, highlighting the impact of chirality on low-energy behaviors and phase transitions.

Findings

Chirality causes a peak in specific heat at low temperature.

Chirality dominates low-temperature thermodynamics as exchange coupling decreases.

Peak structures in thermodynamic quantities change near quantum phase transitions.

Abstract

Thermodynamic properties of the twisted three-leg spin tube under magnetic field are studied by the finite-$T$ density-matrix renormalization group method. The specific heat, spin, and chiral susceptibilities of the infinite system are calculated for both the original and its low-energy effective models. The obtained results show that the presence of the chirality is observed as a clear peak in the specific heat at low temperature and the contribution of the chirality dominates the low-temperature part of the specific heat as the exchange coupling along the spin tube decreases. The peak structures in the specific heat, spin, and chiral susceptibilities are strongly modified near the quantum phase transition where the critical behaviors of the spin and chirality correlations change. These results confirm that the chirality plays a major role in characteristic low-energy behaviors of the frustrated spin systems.