No abstract

A new variational technique for investigation of the ground state and correlation functions in 1D quantum magnets is proposed. A spin Hamiltonian is reduced to a fermionic representation by the Jordan-Wigner transformation. The ground state is described by a new non-local trial wave function, and the total energy is calculated in an analytic form as a function of two variational parameters. This approach is demonstrated with an example of the XXZ-chain of spin-1/2 under a staggered magnetic field. Generalizations and applications of the variational technique for low-dimensional magnetic systems are discussed.

Multiple field-induced plateaus in α-CoV2O6 at low temperatures were revealed earlier by M. Lenertz et al. [J. Phys. Chem. C 115, 17190 (2011)] and carefully investigated recently by M. Nandi and P. Mandal [J. Appl. Phys. 119, 133904 (2016)]. Four equidistant steps were observed in the magnetization curve. We present a model to describe this phenomenon. A magnetic structure of this substance is formed by highly anisotropic triangular lattice of Ising chains running along the b axis. Due to a three-fold degeneracy of three-sublattice magnetic ordering, domain boundaries appear. Their transformation under magnetic field variation leads to two additional steps in the 1/3 magnetization plateau and gives rise to complex magnetic behavior observed experimentally. The domain structure in α-CoV2O6 occurs to be strongly anisotropic because a lifetime of the metastable states depends greatly on the configuration orientation. A strong dependence of the magnetization curve on magnetic field sweep time is predicted.