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    Frustration-induced degenerate spin state with up-up-down-down ordering in corner-connected Heisenberg square plaquettes

    Pritam Manna1 and A. K. Bera1,2,*

    • *Contact author: akbera@barc.gov.in

    Phys. Rev. B 114, 074417 – Published 11 August, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/tjbq-3vc6

    Abstract

    We investigate frustrated magnetism of a corner-connected square-plaquette Heisenberg model with exchange interactions along the edges (J1), along interplaquette links (J2), and along square diagonals (J3). Using Luttinger-Tisza (LT) minimization of the Fourier interaction matrix J(q) together with large-scale Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, we obtain a classical low-temperature magnetic phase diagram in the normalized plane (J1/|J2|,J3/|J2|). The two methods play complementary roles: the LT analysis provides the zero-temperature candidate ordering wave vectors, while the MC simulations elucidate the resulting ordering tendencies under the hard-spin constraint at low but finite temperatures. Three regimes emerge at low temperatures: an antiferromagnetic phase, a ferromagnetic phase, and a degenerate spin state with up-up-down-down (uudd) ordering (DS). For the frustrated degenerate spin state, LT exhibits linelike minima along qx=±qy in the hk plane, revealing a highly degenerate spin configuration that violates the hard-spin constraint. The MC results uncover a state with quasi-two-dimensional ordering. The DS regime is intrinsically multi-q: the ordered texture assembles itself from symmetry-related modes on the lines, producing a “uudd” spin arrangement comprising distinctive strong antiferromagnetic correlations on diagonals, ferromagnetic correlations on corner links, and highly suppressed correlations on the edges. The field-temperature phase diagram for a representative parameter point in the DS regime, determined by MC simulations, yields field-induced distinct regions of negatively and positively correlated layers. These two regions are separated by a curve corresponding to negligible interlayer correlations. Our LT+MC framework delivers a well-controlled classical baseline and operational diagnostics for corner-connected frustrated square-plaquette systems, thereby benchmarking future approaches that incorporate quantum-fluctuation effects.

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