2010/09/30 by Tamas A. Toth, Tamás A. Tóth, Andreas M. Läuchli +4 · 3 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Antiferromagnetism #Bipartite graph #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Combinatorics #Condensed matter physics #Cubic crystal system #Fermion #Ground state #Heisenberg model #Ising model #Lattice (music) #Mathematics #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Semiclassical physics #Square lattice #cond-mat.quant-gas #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.105.265301
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 265301 (2010) · 4 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, references added
arxiv created 2010/11/29 · openalex publication_date 2010/12/21 · arxiv updated 2012/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Combining a semiclassical analysis with exact diagonalizations, we show that the ground state of the SU(3) Heisenberg model on the square lattice develops three-sublattice long-range order. This surprising pattern for a bipartite lattice with only nearest-neighbor interactions is shown to be the consequence of a subtle quantum order-by-disorder mechanism. By contrast, thermal fluctuations favor two-sublattice configurations via entropic selection. These results are shown to extend to the cubic lattice, and experimental implications for the Mott-insulating states of three-flavor fermionic atoms in optical lattices are discussed.