Absent pinch points and emergent clusters: Further neighbor interactions in the pyrochlore Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We discuss the origin of spin correlations observed in neutron-scattering experiments on the paramagnetic phase of a number of frustrated spinel compounds, most notably ZnCr2O4. These correlations are striking for two reasons. First, they have been interpreted as evidence for the formation of weakly interacting hexagonal clusters of spins. Second, they are very different from those calculated for the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg pyrochlore antiferromagnet, in which Coulomb-phase correlations generate sharp scattering features known as pinch points. Using large-n calculations and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that very weak further neighbor exchange interactions can account for both the apparent formation of clusters and the suppression of pinch points.