Contributor info: Mrs Laura Messio

Matías G. Gonzalez, Bernard Bernu, Laurent Pierre, Laura Messio

SciPost Phys. 12, 112 (2022) · published 30 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

The spin-$\frac12$ triangular lattice antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model has been for a long time the prototypical model of magnetic frustration. However, only very recently this model has been proposed to be realized in the Ba$_8$CoNb$_6$O$_{24}$ compound. The ground-state and thermodynamic properties are evaluated from a high-temperature series expansions interpolation method, called "entropy method", and compared to experiments. We find a ground-state energy $e_0 = -0.5445(2)$ in perfect agreement with exact diagonalization results. We also calculate the specific heat and entropy at all temperatures, finding a good agreement with the latest experiments, and evaluate which further interactions could improve the comparison. We explore the spatially anisotropic triangular lattice and provide evidence that supports the existence of a gapped spin liquid between the square and triangular lattices.