Majumdar-Ghosh-like spin models in low dimensions

Abstract

The Majumdar-Ghosh model occupies a special position amongst the models of interacting spin systems. The model has motivated the search for other low-dimensional spin systems with quantum paramagnetic ground states and a gap, the so-called spin gap, in the excitation spectrum. In this brief review, some generic features of MG-like spin models will be described in terms of theoretical results and experimentally observed phenomena.