Continuous and discontinuous transitions in the Ising-Heisenberg model on the extended Lieb lattice in a magnetic field

Abstract

The spin-1/2 Ising-Heisenberg model on the extended Lieb lattice in a magnetic field is exactly mapped onto an effective spin-1/2 Ising model on the square lattice. The ground-state phase diagram comprises the quantum antiferromagnetic (QAF), quantum monomer-dimer (MD), classical ferrimagnetic (FRI), and classical ferromagnetic phase. The MD-FRI ground-state phase boundary extends to finite temperatures as a dome-shaped surface of discontinuous thermal transitions bounded by a line of Ising critical points. The QAF phase is enclosed by a surface of continuous thermal transitions evolving from the QAF-MD and QAF-FRI ground-state phase boundaries. Monte Carlo simulations fully confirm the existence and nature of both continuous and discontinuous thermal phase transitions obtained by exact and approximate analytical calculations.