Dynamic and thermodynamic properties of the generalized diamond chain model for azurite.

The natural mineral azurite Cu(3)(CO(3))(2)(OH)(2) is an interesting spin-1/2 quantum antiferromagnet. Recently, a generalized diamond chain model has been established as a good description of the magnetic properties of azurite with parameters placing it in a highly frustrated parameter regime. Here we explore further properties of this model for azurite. First, we determine the inelastic neutron scattering spectrum in the absence of a magnetic field and find good agreement with experiments, thus lending further support to the model. Furthermore, we present numerical data for the magnetocaloric effect and predict that strong cooling should be observed during adiabatic (de)magnetization of azurite in magnetic fields slightly above 30 T. Finally, the presence of a dominant dimer interaction in azurite suggests the use of effective Hamiltonians for an effective low-energy description and we propose that such an approach may be useful for fully accounting for the three-dimensional coupling geometry.