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arXiv:0709.3256 · Physical Review B

Quantum criticality in dimerized spin ladders

Gennady Y. Chitov, Brandon W. Ramakko, Mohamed Moussadek Azzouz

Published Jun 20, 2008• 29 citations
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Abstract

We analyze the possibility of quantum criticality (gaplessness) in dimerized antiferromagnetic two- and three-leg spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ ladders. Contrary to earlier studies of these models, we examine different dimerization patterns in the ladder. We find that ladders with the columnar dimerization order have lower zero-temperature energies, and they are always gapped. For the staggered dimerization order, we find the quantum critical lines, in agreement with earlier analyses. The bond mean-field theory we apply demonstrates its quantitative accuracy and agrees with available numerical results. We conclude that unless some mechanism for locking dimerization into the energetically less favorable staggered configuration is provided, the dimerized ladders do not order into the phase where the quantum criticality occurs.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.77.224433

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We analyze the possibility of quantum criticality (gaplessness) in dimerized antiferromagnetic two- and three-leg spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ ladders. Contrary to earlier studies of these models, we examine different dimerization patterns in the ladder. We find that ladders with the columnar dimerization order have lower zero-temperature energies, and they are always gapped. For the staggered dimerization order, we find the quantum critical lines, in agreement with earlier analyses. The bond mean-field theory we apply demonstrates its quantitative accuracy and agrees with available numerical results. We conclude that unless some mechanism for locking dimerization into the energetically less favorable staggered configuration is provided, the dimerized ladders do not order into the phase where the quantum criticality occurs.
Because the three-leg ladder behaves like a renormalized single Heisenberg chain, we argue that a spin-Peierls instability must occur in this system when it is coupled to three-dimensional phonons. Using the bond-mean-field theory, we show that this is indeed the case. The dimerized state below the spin-Peierls transition temperature forms into the columnar dimerized phase instead of the staggered one. This contrasts with the argument based on antiferromagnetism. A physical argument based rather on spin bonding into singlets could explain why the columnar configuration is favored. No quantum criticality (gaplessness) can occur in the columnar arrangement of the dimerized chains.
Dimerized spin-1/2 ladders exhibit a variety of phase structures, which depend on the intra-chain and inter-chain spin exchange energies as well as on the dimerization pattern of the ladder. Using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm, we study critical properties of the bond-alternating two-leg Heisenberg spin ladder with diagonal interaction J ×. Two types of spin systems, staggered dimerized antiferromagnetic ladder and columnar dimerized ferro-antiferromagnetic couplings ladder, are investigated. To clarify the phase transition behaviors, we simultaneously analyze the string order parameter (SOP), the twisted order parameter (TOP), as well as a measurement of the quantum information analysis. Based on measuring this different observables, we establish the phase diagram accurately and give the fitting functions of the phase boundaries. In addition, the phase transition of cross-coupled spin ladder (in the absence of intrinsic dimerization) is also discussed.
We determine the existence of critical lines in dimerized quantum spin ladders in their phase diagram of coupling constants using the finite-size density matrix renormalization group algorithm. We consider both staggered and columnar dimerization patterns, and antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interleg couplings. The existence of critical phases depends on the precise combination of these patterns. The nature of the massive phases separating the critical lines are characterized with generalized string order parameters that determine their valence-bond-solid content.
Dimerized antiferromagnetic spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ ladders are known to exhibit a quantum critical phase transition in the ground state, the existence or absence of which is dependent on the dimerization pattern of the ladder. The gapped phases cannot be distinguished by the conventional Landau long-range order parameter. However, they possess a nonlocal (hidden) string-order parameter, which is nonzero in one phase and vanishes in the other. We use an exact diagonalization technique to calculate ground-state energies, energy gaps, and string-order parameters of dimerized two- and three-leg Heisenberg ladders, as well as a critical scaling analysis to yield estimates of the critical exponents $\ensuremath{\nu}$ and $\ensuremath{\beta}$.
We study a two-leg antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 ladder in the presence of a staggered magnetic field. We consider two parameter regimes: strong (weak) coupling along the legs and weak (strong) coupling along the rungs. In both cases, the staggered field drives the Haldane spin-liquid phase of the ladder towards a Gaussian quantum criticality. In a generalized spin ladder with a non-Haldane, spontaneously dimerized phase, the staggered magnetic field induces an Ising quantum critical regime. In the vicinity of the critical lines, we derive low-energy effective field theories and use these descriptions to determine the dynamical response functions, the staggered spin susceptibility, and the string order parameter.
We study a spin-half frustrated coupled ladder system, in which ladders with leg, rung, and diagonal interactions are linked via nearest-neighbor coupling. By introducing a leg-symmetric inter-ladder interaction that connects the left-to-left and right-to-right legs of adjacent ladders, the model is found to possess an exact dimer ground state, characterized by a product of two-spin singlets forming a columnar dimer phase. We analyze this model using bond-operator mean-field theory (BOMFT) and the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) to probe the phase transitions that occur as one traverses the coupling space. The BOMFT reveals three distinct phases: a double-stripe ordered phase, a Néel ordered phase, and a quantum disordered dimerized phase. The critical points for the transitions are at $ J_1 = -0.81 $ (double-stripe to dimerized) and at $ J_1 = 2.81 $ (dimerized to Néel phase). Further, the DMRG results corroborate the exact ground state and refine the critical points to $ J_1 = -0.79 $ and $ J_1 = 2.29 $ for the respective transitions. Additionally, another transition is identified as the Néel order vanishes for $ J_1 \ge 4.5 $. The model can alternatively be represented as a network of orthogonal zigzag and fully frustrated spin ladders, offering a structural framework conducive to quantum materials engineering.