The phase diagram of a frustrated
S=1∕2 antiferromagnetic spin ladder with additional next-nearest neighbor exchanges, both diagonal and in-chain, is studied by a weak-coupling effective field theory approach combined with exact diagonalization for finite systems. In addition to two known phases with rung-singlet and Haldane-type ground states, we observe two new phases with dimerization along the chains. Furthermore, the transitions between the different phases are studied and shown to be either first order or to belong to the universality class of the two-dimensional Ising model. The nature of elementary excitations is discussed briefly.
We study the motion of holes in a mixed-dimensional setup of an antiferromagnetic ladder, featuring nearest-neighbor hopping
t along the ladders and Ising-type spin interactions along, ${J}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}$, and across, ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$, the ladder. We determine exact solutions for the low-energy one- and two-hole eigenstates. The presence of the trans-leg spin coupling, ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$, leads to a linear confining potential between the holes. As a result, holes on separate legs feature a superlinear binding energy scaling as ${({J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}/t)}^{2/3}$ in the strongly correlated regime of ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}},{J}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}\ensuremath{\le}t$. This behavior is linked to an emergent length scale $\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\propto}{(t/{J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}})}^{1/3}$, stemming from the linear confining potential, and which describes how the size of the two-hole molecular state diverges for ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}},{J}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}\ensuremath{\ll}t$. On the contrary, holes on the same leg unbind at sufficiently low spin couplings. This is a consequence of the altered short-range boundary condition for holes on the same leg, yielding an effective Pauli repulsion between them, limiting their kinetic energy and making binding unfavorable. Finally, we determine the exact nonequilibrium quench dynamics following the sudden immersion of initially localized nearest-neighbor holes. The dynamics is characterized by a crossover from an initial ballistic quantum walk to an aperiodic oscillatory motion around a finite average distance between the holes due to the confining potential between them. In the strongly correlated regime of low spin couplings, ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}},{J}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}\ensuremath{\le}t$, we find this asymptotic distance to diverge as $t/{J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$, showing a much stronger scaling than the eigenstates. The predicted results should be amenable to state-of-the-art quantum simulation experiments using currently implemented experimental techniques.
The interplay between the Kondo effect, indirect magnetic interaction, and geometrical frustration is studied in the Kondo lattice on the one-dimensional zigzag ladder. Using the density-matrix renormalization group, the ground-state and various short- and long-range spin- and density-correlation functions are calculated for the model at half filling as a function of the antiferromagnetic Kondo interaction down to
J=0.3t, where
t is the nearest-neighbor hopping on the zigzag ladder. Geometrical frustration is shown to lead to at least two critical points: Starting from the strong-
J limit, where almost local Kondo screening dominates and where the system is a nonmagnetic Kondo insulator, antiferromagnetic correlations between nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor local spins become stronger and stronger, until at ${J}_{\mathrm{c}}^{\mathrm{dim}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.89t$ frustration is alleviated by a spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry and a corresponding transition to a dimerized state. This is characterized by antiferromagnetic correlations along the legs and by alternating antiferro- and ferromagnetic correlations on the rungs of the ladder. A mechanism of partial Kondo screening that has been suggested for the Kondo lattice on the two-dimensional triangular lattice is not realized in the one-dimensional case. Furthermore, within the symmetry-broken dimerized state, there is a magnetic transition to a ${90}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ quantum spin spiral with quasi-long-range order at ${J}_{\mathrm{c}}^{\mathrm{mag}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.84t$. The quantum-critical point is characterized by a closure of the spin gap (with decreasing
J) and a divergence of the spin-correlation length and of the spin-structure factor
S(q) at wave vector $q=\ensuremath{\pi}/2$. This is opposed to the model on the one-dimensional bipartite chain, which is known to have a finite spin gap for all
J>0 at half filling.
The frustrated ladder with alternate ferromagnetic(F) exchange
−JF and AF exchange
JA to first neighbors and F exchange
−JL to second neighbors is studied by exact diagonalization (ED) and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations in systems of
2N spins-1/2 with periodic boundary conditions. The ground state is a singlet
(S=0) and the singlet-triplet gap
εT is finite for the exchanges considered. Spin-1/2 string correlation functions
g1(N) and
g2(N) are defined for an even number
N of consecutive spins in systems with two spins per unit cell; the ladder has string order
g2(∞)>0 and
g1(∞)=0. The minimum
N∗ of
g2(N) is related to the range of ground-state spin correlations. Convergence to
g2(∞) is from below, and
g1(N) decreases exponentially for
N≥N∗. Singlet valence bond (VB) diagrams account for the size dependencies. The frustrated ladder at special values of
JF,
JL and
JA reduces to well-known models such as the spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet and the
J1−J2 model, among others. Numerical analysis of ladders matches previous results for spin-1 gaps or string correlation functions and extends them to spin-1/2 systems. The nondegenerate singlet ground state of ladder is a bond-order wave, a Kekulé VB diagrams at
JL=JF/2≤JA, that is reversed on interchanging
−JF and
JA. Inversion symmetry is spontaneously broken in the dimer phase of the
J1−J2 model where the Kekulé diagrams are the doubly degenerate ground states at
J2/J1=1/2.
Hole-doping effects are investigated on the {\it t-J} ladder model with the linked-tetrahedra structure. We discuss how a metal-insulator transition occurs upon hole doping with particular emphasis on the effects of geometrical frustration. By computing the electron density and the spin correlation function by the density matrix renormalization group, we show that strong frustration triggers a first-order transition to a metallic phase, when holes are doped into the plaquette-singlet phase. By examining spin excitations in a metallic case in detail, we discuss whether the spin-gap phase persists upon hole doping according to the strength of frustration. It is further shown that the lowest excited state in a spin-gap metallic phase can be described in two independent quasiparticles.
Hole-doping effects are investigated on the {\it t-J} ladder model with the linked-tetrahedra structure. We discuss how a metal-insulator transition occurs upon hole doping with particular emphasis on the effects of geometrical frustration. By computing the electron density and the spin correlation function by the density matrix renormalization group, we show that strong frustration triggers a first-order transition to a metallic phase, when holes are doped into the plaquette-singlet phase. By examining spin excitations in a metallic case in detail, we discuss whether the spin-gap phase persists upon hole doping according to the strength of frustration. It is further shown that the lowest excited state in a spin-gap metallic phase can be described in two independent quasiparticles.