Weak first-order transition in the quasi-one-dimensional frustrated XY antiferromagnet

TL;DR

This study uses finite-size scaling of Monte Carlo simulations to identify a weak first-order phase transition in a frustrated XY antiferromagnet, clarifying longstanding theoretical debates.

Contribution

It provides the first simulation-based confirmation of renormalization-group predictions for this frustrated system, resolving previous controversies.

Findings

Weak first-order transition observed with strong interplane coupling

Simulation results support renormalization-group calculations

Relevance to experimental data on CsCuCl3

Abstract

The results of finite-size scaling analysis of histogram Monte-Carlo simulations on the stacked triangular XY antiferromagnet with anisotropic near-neighbor exchange interactions are presented. With ferromagnetic interplane coupling ten times stronger than the antiferromagnetic intraplane interaction ($J_\| / J_\bot = -10$), a weak first-order transition is revealed. These results represents the first simulational corroboration of a wide variety of renormalization-group calculations made over the past twenty years. As such, they shed light on recent controversy regarding the critical behavior in this and similar frustrated systems and have particular relevance to recently reported data on $CsCuCl_3$.