Destructive quantum interference in spin tunneling problems

1992/08/15 by Jan von Delft, Christopher L. Henley · 11 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum many-body systems #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.69.3236

14 pages (RevTex), 3 figures upon request

arxiv created 1992/08/15 · openalex publication_date 1992/11/30 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

In some spin tunneling problems there are several different but symmetry-related tunneling paths that connect the same initial and final configurations. The topological phase factors of the corresponding tunneling amplitudes can lead to destructive interference between the different paths, so that the total tunneling amplitude is zero. In the study of tunneling between different ground-state configurations of the Kagom'e-lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet, this occurs when the spin s is half odd integer.

Citations

• Possible Néel orderings of the Kagomé antiferromagnet
• Continuum dynamics of the 1-D Heisenberg antiferromagnet: Identification with the O(3) nonlinear sigma model

Cited by

• Square kagome quantum antiferromagnet and the eight-vertex model
• Monopole flux state on the pyrochlore lattice
• Quantum disordered ground states in frustrated antiferromagnets with multiple ring exchange interactions
• Quantum nucleation in a ferromagnetic film placed in a magnetic field at an arbitrary angle
• SU(2) Instantons with Boundary Jumps and Spin Tunneling in Magnetic Molecules
• Spin tunneling in magnetic molecules: Quasisingular perturbations and discontinuous SU(2) instantons
• Kondo effect in single-molecule magnet transistors
• Chirality tunneling and quantum dynamics for domain walls in mesoscopic ferromagnets
• QUANTUM-CLASSICAL PHASE TRANSITION OF THE ESCAPE RATE OF TWO-SUBLATTICE ANTIFERROMAGNETIC LARGE SPINS
• First- and second-order transitions of the escape rate in ferrimagnetic or antiferromagnetic particles
• Macroscopic quantum coherence in small antiferromagnetic particles and quantum interference effects