Fluctuation-driven selection at criticality in a frustrated magnetic system: the case of multiple-k partial order on the pyrochlore lattice.

We study the problem of partially ordered phases with periodically arranged disordered (paramagnetic) sites on the pyrochlore lattice, a network of corner-sharing tetrahedra. The periodicity of these phases is characterized by one or more wave vectors k={1/21/21/2}. Starting from a general microscopic Hamiltonian including anisotropic nearest-neighbor exchange, long-range dipolar interactions, and second- and third-nearest neighbor exchange, we use standard mean-field theory (SMFT) to identify an extended range of interaction parameters that support partially ordered phases.

Spin Hamiltonian, competing small energy scales, and incommensurate long-range order in the highly frustrated Gd(3)Ga(5)O(12) garnet antiferromagnet.

Despite the availability of a spin Hamiltonian for the Gd(3)Ga(5)O(12) garnet (GGG) for over 25 years, there has so far been little theoretical insight regarding the many unusual low temperature properties of GGG. Here we investigate GGG in zero magnetic field using mean-field theory. We reproduce the spin liquid-like correlations and, most importantly, explain the positions of the sharp peaks seen in powder neutron diffraction experiments.