Continuous families of isospectral Heisenberg spin systems and the limits of inference from measurements

Abstract

We investigate classes of quantum Heisenberg spin systems which have different coupling constants but the same energy spectrum and hence the same thermodynamical properties. To this end we define various types of isospectrality and establish conditions for their occurrence. The triangle and the tetrahedron whose vertices are occupied by spin 1/2 are investigated in some detail. The problem is also of practical interest since isospectrality presents an obstacle to the experimental determination of the coupling constants of small interacting spin systems such as magnetic molecules.