6.

2 Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Model 299

The introduction of easy-axis anisotropy helps to stabilize the Ndel-

type order. In the limit Q + 0 we get the Ising model with a rigidly or-
dered ground state. One of the motivations for introducing the anisotropic
Heisenberg model is purely theoretical: for a clearer understanding of
the antiferrornagnetism of the isotropic model (6.47), we may wish to
derive it by continuation from the well-controlled Ising limit. We can
expand in terms of Q (Ising expansion), and then let Q + 1. This
method has the advantage that it does not require taking the quasi-
classical limit S >> 1 but works for arbitrary spin S, including S = 1/2
where the 1/S-expansion is on shaky grounds.

A Glimpse at the Strange World of D = 1

The spectrum of antiferromagnons (6.83) becomes particularly simple
for a one-dimensional system:
wk = J S z Jsin (Ica)l . (6.109)

We have good reason to fear that this attractive result has to be dis-
carded because it is derived by assuming two-sublattice long range order,
and we know that that assumption fails. Nevertheless, (6.109) is remark-
ably similar to what is observed in many quasi-one-dimensional mate-
rials, for instance, in the nearly isotropic S = 5/2 salt CsMnC13.2H20
[84].The formula works so well because it is expected that the exact
spectrum of isotropic S = half-integer Heisenberg chains shows the same
functional dependence. Though we do not have an analytic result for
S = 5/2, we can quote the des Cloizeaux-Pearson spectrum of triplet
excitations [86] which is derived for S = 1/2
7T
wk = J-1 sin (Ica)l . (6.110)
2
Replacing z = 2 and S = 1/2 in (6.109), we would get wk = JI sin ( k a ) ( ,
so we may be tempted to say that the spin wave calculation misses the
exact result only by a factor of ~ / 2 . However, this would be rather
superficial, because there are essential dissimilarities in the nature of
(6.109) and (6.110). The excited states (6.110) are threefold degener-
ate because they are true triplets over a non-symmetry-breaking sin-
glet ground state. In contrast, (6.109) describes excitations whose