Thermal entanglement properties of small spin clusters

Abstract

Exchange interactions in spin systems can give rise to quantum entanglement in the ground and thermal states of the systems. In this paper, we consider a spin tetramer, with spins of magnitude 1/2, in which the spins interact via nearest-neighbour, diagonal and four-spin interactions of strength J1, J2 and K respectively. The ground and thermal state entanglement properties of the tetramer are calculated analytically in the various limiting cases. Signatures of quantum phase transition (QPT) in terms of appropriate entanglement measures are obtained. The magnetic properties of a S = 1/2 AFM polyoxovanadate compound, V12, are well explained by spin tetramers with only nearest-neighbour exchange interactions. Treating the magnetic susceptibility chi as an entanglement witness (EW), an estimate of the lower bound of the critical entanglement temperature, T_c, above which the multipartite entanglement disappears in the experimental compound, is determined. A second EW based on energy provides an estimate of the entanglement temperature T_E, below which bipartite entanglement is certainly present in the system, is determined. The cases of the symmetric trimer and the tetrahedron are also considered.