Thermal valence-bond-solid transition of quantum spins in two dimensions

• Main Authors: Jin, Songbo, Sandvik, Anders W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04-03-2013
• Subjects: Physics - Strongly Correlated Electrons
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1303.0703

Phys. Rev. B 87, 180404 (2013) We study the S=1/2 Heisenberg (J) model on the two-dimensional square lattice
in the presence of additional higher-order spin interactions (Q) which lead to
a valence-bond-solid (VBS) ground state. Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations,
we analyze the thermal VBS transition. We find continuously varying exponents,
with the correlation-length exponent "nu" close to the Ising value for large
Q/J and diverging when Q/J approaches the quantum-critical point (the critical
temperature Tc -> 0). This is in accord with the theory of deconfined
quantum-critical points, which predicts that the transition should approach a
Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) fixed point when Tc -> 0+ (while the transition versus
Q/J for T=0 is in a different class). We find explicit evidence for KT physics
by studying the emergence of U(1) symmetry of the order parameter at T=T_c when
Tc -> 0.