294 Ch.

6 Heisenberg Magnets

A more sophisticated approach is to use a chain mean field theory,

particularly for S = 1/2. The idea is to regard the interchain coupling
as an external staggered field, and to treat the chains as accurately as
one can. Though the latter step does not mean an exact solution in the
literal sense, it comes very close to it for long-wavelength properties,
including the question of ordering [9, 3541. The essential result is that
the T = 0 order parameter vanishes as

mst (S) 1/2

* (6.95)

Long range order survives as long as there is a non-zero interchain

coupling, however small it may be. If the model is at least (1 2)- +
dimensional, there is also a finite N6el temperature. Its behaviour is
not so simple as that of m,t but, omitting logarithmic factors, the rough
proportionality TN J' holds [354].
N

There are several well-st udied nearly isotropic quasi-one-dimensional

antiferromagnets. Let us recall that in the case of KCuF3, the spa-
tial anisotropy of the coupling does not arise from that of the crystal
structure (which is almost cubic) but from the alternating occupation
of different orbitals, and the resulting anisotropy of the hopping (see
Fig. 3.8). Actually, the corresponding J ' / J 0.01 is not considered as
N

particularly small, since it implies a sublattice magnetization of O(O.1).

The experimental value is mst NN 0.25, showing that KCuF3 is only a
little bit more fluctuating than La2CuO4.
The much more conspicuous magnetic quasi-one-dimensionality of
the cuprates Sr2CuO3 and Ca2CuO3 originates from the interplay of an
anisotropic crystal structure (consisting of well-separated CuO2 chains),

that J ' / J-
and the directional character of the superexchangc path. It is estimated
Since J M 1300K is supposed to be the same for
both materials, measuring m,t and TN allows a check of theoretical
predictions. It is found that m:; M 0.03 and Tr: "N 5K for Sr2CuO3,
while rn,C," M 0.045 and T:" M 11K for CazCuO3 [221]. These small
ordered momentslg are at the limit of detectability, thus we should not
be surprised that different methods tend to give somewhat different
~

lgRemember that in this discussion, m,t is measured in units of g P g , thus the

ordered moment of SrzCuOs is 0 . 0 6 ~ ~ .