Low-energy excitations of the kagome antiferromagnet and the spin-gap issue

In this paper we report the latest results of exact diagonalizations of SU(2) invariant models on various lattices (square, triangular, hexagonal, checkerboard and kagome lattices) and revisit critically in this light some of our previous analysis. We focus on the low-lying levels in each S sector. The differences in behavior between gapless systems and gapped ones are exhibited. The plausibility of a gapless spin liquid in the Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice is discussed. A rough estimate of the spin susceptibility in such an hypothesis is given. The evolution of the intra-S-channel spectra under the effect of a small perturbation is consistent with the proximity of a quantum critical point. We reemphasize that the very small intra-S-channel energy scale observed in exact spectra is a very interesting information to understand the low-T dynamics of this model. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2009