Unconventional orders in the maple-leaf ferro-antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model

TL;DR

This study investigates the quantum phase diagram of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the maple-leaf lattice, revealing unconventional nonmagnetic phases, including potential quantum spin liquids, through advanced computational methods.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive multi-method analysis of the maple-leaf Heisenberg model, identifying novel nonmagnetic phases and their correlation profiles.

Findings

Identification of a hexagonal singlet state near J_d=J_t=0

Discovery of a dimerized hexagonal singlet lattice nematic phase

Evidence of spin-nematic order at phase boundaries

Abstract

Motivated by the search for unconventional orders in frustrated quantum magnets, we present a multi-method investigation into the nature of the quantum phase diagram of the spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg model on the maple-leaf lattice with three symmetry-inequivalent nearest-neighbor interactions. It has been argued that the parameter regime with antiferromagnetic couplings on hexagons $J_h$ and ferromagnetic couplings on triangles $J_t$ and dimer $J_d$ bonds, is potentially host to a cornucopia of emergent phases with unconventional orders. Our analysis indeed identifies an extended region where any conventional dipolar magnetic order is absent. A hexagonal singlet state is found in the region around $J_{d}=J_{t}=0$, while a dimerized hexagonal singlet order of a lattice nematic character appears proximate to the phase boundary with the c$120^\circ$ antiferromagnetic order. Interestingly, upon traversing the bulk of the paramagnetic (PM) region, we find a variety of distinct correlation profiles, which are qualitatively different from those of the hexagonal singlet and dimerized hexagonal singlet orders but feature no appreciable spin-nematic response, while the boundary with the ferromagnetic phase shows evidence of spin-nematic order. This PM region is thus likely host to an ensemble of nonmagnetic phases which could putatively include quantum spin liquids. Our phase diagram is built from a complementary application of state-of-the-art implementations of the cluster mean-field and pseudo-fermion functional renormalization group approaches, together with an unconstrained Luttinger-Tisza treatment of the model providing insights from the semi-classical limit.