Nonabelian ferromagnets with three-body interactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex phase behavior of nonabelian ferromagnets with three-body interactions, revealing multiple phase transitions and novel polarization phases using a mean field approach.

Contribution

It introduces a mean field analysis of nonabelian ferromagnets with both two- and three-body interactions, highlighting new phase structures and polarization phenomena.

Findings

Cascade of phase transitions when two-body are ferromagnetic and three-body are antiferromagnetic

Emergence of phases with two distinct polarization directions

Relevance to magnetic systems with significant higher-body interactions

Abstract

We study the thermodynamics of nonabelian ferromagnets consisting of atoms in the fundamental representation of $SU(N)$ and interacting with two-body and three-body interactions. Using a mean field approach, we uncover an intricate phase structure, depending on the relative strength and sign of the two-body and three-body coupling constants. In the case where two-body interactions are ferromagnetic and three-body ones are antiferromagnetic, we uncover a rich cascade of phase transitions, the appearance of phases with two distinct polarization directions being the most striking novel feature. Our results are relevant to magnetic systems where higher-body interactions cannot be neglected.