N\'eel and Spin-Peierls ground states of two-dimensional SU(N) quantum antiferromagnets

TL;DR

This study uses quantum Monte Carlo simulations to explore the ground states of two-dimensional SU(N) quantum antiferromagnets, revealing Néel order for N≤4 and Spin-Peierls order for N≥5, with no intermediate spin-liquid phase.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale numerical evidence for the transition from Néel to Spin-Peierls ground states in 2D SU(N) antiferromagnets, clarifying the phase diagram.

Findings

Néel order for N≤4

Spin-Peierls order for N≥5

No intermediate spin-liquid phase

Abstract

The two-dimensional SU(N) quantum antiferromagnet, a generalization of the quantum Heisenberg model, is investigated by quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The ground state for $N\le 4$ is found to be of the N\'eel type with broken SU(N) symmetry, whereas it is of the Spin-Peierls type for $N\ge 5$ with broken lattice translational invariance. No intermediate spin-liquid phase was observed in contrast to previous numerical simulations on smaller lattices [Santoro et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 83} 3065 (1999)].