Using the coupled cluster method for high orders of approximation and complementary exact diagonalization studies we investigate the ground state properties of the spin-1/2 J 1 -J 2 frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice. We have calculated the ground state energy, the magnetic order parameter, the spin stiffness, and several generalized susceptibilities to probe magnetically disordered quantum valence-bond phases. We have found that the quantum critical points for both the Néel and collinear orders are J 2 c1 Ϸ͑0.44Ϯ 0.01͒J 1 and J 2 c2 Ϸ͑0.59Ϯ 0.01͒J 1 , respectively, which are in good agreement with the results obtained by other approximations. In contrast to the recent study by ͓Sirker et al. Phys. Rev. B 73, 184420 ͑2006͔͒, our data do not provide evidence for the transition from the Néel to the valence-bond solid state to be first order. Moreover, our results are in favor of the deconfinement scenario for that phase transition. We also discuss the nature of the magnetically disordered quantum phase.

We study the zero-temperature phase diagram and the low-lying excitations of a square-lattice spinhalf Heisenberg antiferromagnet with two types of regularly distributed nearest-neighbour exchange bonds (J > 0 (antiferromagnetic) and −∞ < J ′ < ∞) using the coupled cluster method (CCM) for high orders of approximation (up to LSUB8). We use a Néel model state as well as a helical model state as a starting point for the CCM calculations. We find a second-order transition from a phase with Néel order to a finite-gap quantum disordered phase for sufficiently large antiferromagnetic exchange constants J ′ > 0. For frustrating ferromagnetic couplings J ′ < 0 we find indications that quantum fluctuations favour a first-order phase transition from the Néel order to a quantum helical state, by contrast with the corresponding second-order transition in the corresponding classical model. The results are compared to those of exact diagonalizations of finite systems (up to 32 sites) and those of spin-wave and variational calculations. The CCM results agree well with the exact diagonalization data over the whole range of the parameters. The special case of J ′ = 0, which is equivalent to the honeycomb lattice, is treated more closely.

In this article, we present new results of high-order coupled cluster method (CCM) calculations, based on a Néel model state with spins aligned in the z-direction, for both the ground-and excitedstate properties of the spin-half XXZ model on the linear chain, the square lattice, and the simple cubic lattice. In particular, the high-order CCM formalism is extended to treat the excited states of lattice quantum spin systems for the first time. Completely new results for the excitation energy gap of the spin-half XXZ model for these lattices are thus determined. These high-order calculations are based on a localised approximation scheme called the LSUBm scheme in which we retain all k-body correlations defined on all possible locales of m adjacent lattice sites (k ≤ m).The "raw" CCM LSUBm results are seen to provide very good results for the ground-state energy, sublattice magnetisation, and the value of the lowest-lying excitation energy for each of these systems. However, in order to obtain even better results, two types of extrapolation scheme of the LSUBm results to the limit m → ∞ (i.e., the exact solution in the thermodynamic limit) are presented. The extrapolated results provide extremely accurate results for the ground-and excited-state properties of these systems across a wide range of values of the anisotropy parameter.

Our investigations support the current hypothesis that NOD2/CARD15 mutations are associated with a phenotype of Crohn's disease with younger age at diagnosis, ileal involvement, ileocecal resections and a high risk of postoperative relapse and reoperation. NOD2/CARD15 mutations might therefore be used to identify high risk patients for relapse prevention strategies.