Exchange and spin Jahn-Teller distortions for a triangular cluster of spin-1/2

Abstract

We study the effects of magnetoelastic coupling on the degenerate ground state of the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model for the regular triangular spin cluster. Static displacement of spins spontaneously lifts the degeneracy of the ground state through the distance dependence of exchange coupling, i.e., a spin Jahn-Teller mechanism takes place. On the other hand, dynamical displacement does not lift the degeneracy, though the cluster distorts spontaneously. The energy decrease obtained by dynamical theory is twice as large as that obtained by static theory because of quantum fluctuation.