We numerically calculate the local density of states (LDOS) of a one-dimensional Mott insulator with open boundaries, which is modelled microscopically by a (extended) Hubbard chain at half filling. In the Fourier transform of the LDOS we identify several dispersing features corresponding to propagating charge and spin degrees of freedom, thus providing a visualization of the spin-charge separation in the system. We also consider the effect of an additional boundary potential, which, if sufficiently strong, leads to the formation of a boundary bound state which is clearly visible in the LDOS as a nondispersing feature inside the Mott gap.
We determine the local density of states (LDOS) for spin-gapped one-dimensional charge density wave (CDW) states and Mott insulators in the presence of a hard-wall boundary. We calculate the boundary contribution to the single-particle Green function in the low-energy limit using field theory techniques and analyze it in terms of its Fourier transform in both time and space. The boundary LDOS in the CDW case exhibits a singularity at momentum
2kF, which is indicative of the pinning of the CDW order at the impurity. We further observe several dispersing features at frequencies above the spin gap, which provide a characteristic signature of spin-charge separation. This demonstrates that the boundary LDOS can be used to infer properties of the underlying bulk system. In the presence of a boundary magnetic field, midgap states localized at the boundary emerge. We investigate the signature of such bound states in the LDOS. We discuss the implications of our results for scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on quasi-one-dimensional systems such as two-leg ladder materials like
Sr14Cu24O41. By exchanging the roles of charge and spin sectors, all our results directly carry over to the case of one-dimensional Mott insulators.
We determine the local density of states of one-dimensional incommensurate charge-density wave states in the presence of a strong impurity potential, which is modeled by a boundary. We find that the charge-density wave gets pinned at the impurity, which results in a singularity in the Fourier transform of the local density of states at momentum 2k_{F}. At energies above the spin gap we observe dispersing features associated with the spin and charge degrees of freedom, respectively. In the presence of an impurity magnetic field we observe the formation of a bound state localized at the impurity. All of our results carry over to the case of 1D Mott insulators by exchanging the roles of spin and charge degrees of freedom. We discuss the implications of our result for scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on spin-gap systems such as two-leg ladder cuprates.
We study the low-energy limit of a quarter-filled one-dimensional Mott insulator. We analytically determine the local density of states in the presence of a strong impurity potential, which is modeled by a boundary. To this end we calculate the Green function using field theoretical methods. The Fourier transform of the local density of states shows signatures of a pinning of the spin-density wave at the impurity as well as several dispersing features at frequencies above the charge gap. These features can be interpreted as propagating spin and charge degrees of freedom. Their relative strength can be attributed to the ``quasi-fermionic'' behavior of charge excitations with equal momenta. Furthermore, we discuss the effect of bound states localized at the impurity. Finally, we give an overview of the local density of states in various one-dimensional systems and discuss implications for scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.
By utilizing the twisted boundary conditions in the exact diagonalization method, we investigate the single-particle spectral function of the extended Peierls-Hubbard model at both half-filling and quarter filling. In one-dimensional (1D) interacting systems, the spin-charge separation can typically be identified in the single-particle spectral function by observing the distinct spinon and holon bands. At half filling, starting from the pure 1D Hubbard model with the on-site interaction
U=10, we observe that the band structure indicative of the spin-charge separation gradually transitions to four individual bands as the Peierls instability
δ increases. At
U=10 and
δ=0.2 where the spin-charge separation is still observable, increasing the nearest-neighbor interaction
V can drive the system to a charge-density-wave (CDW) state when
V≳U/2, without the obeservation of spinon and holon bands. At quarter-filling, on the other hand, the ground state of Peierls-Hubbard model manifests an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator in units of dimers. Increasing
U results in only a very small gap in the single-particle spectrum because even for
U=+∞, with the model transforming into a noninteracting half-filled dimerized tight-binding model, its gap determined by the Peierls instability
δ remains small. Conversely, increasing
V can effectively open the single-particle gap and make the spinon and holon bands more prominent.
By utilizing the twisted boundary conditions in the exact diagonalization method, we investigate the single-particle spectral function of the extended Peierls-Hubbard model at both half-filling and quarter-filling. In one-dimensional (1D) interacting systems, the spin-charge separation can typically be identified in the single-particle spectral function by observing the distinct spinon and holon bands. At half-filling, starting from the pure 1D Hubbard model with the on-site interaction
U=10, we observe that the band structure indicative of the spin-charge separation gradually transitions to four individual bands as the Peierls instability $\ensuremath{\delta}$ increases. At
U=10 and $\ensuremath{\delta}=0.2$ where the spin-charge separation is still observable, increasing the nearest-neighbor interaction
V can drive the system to a charge-density-wave state when $V\ensuremath{\gtrsim}U/2$. At quarter-filling, on the other hand, the ground state of Peierls-Hubbard model manifests an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator in units of dimers. Increasing
U results in only a very small gap in the single-particle spectrum because even for $U=+\ensuremath{\infty}$, with the model transforming into a noninteracting half-filled dimerized tight-binding model, its gap determined by the Peierls instability $\ensuremath{\delta}$ remains small. Conversely, increasing
V can effectively open the single-particle gap and make the spinon and holon bands more prominent.
We study the phase diagram of a one-dimensional extended Hubbard model with antiferromagnetic exchange interaction analytically and numerically. The bosonization and transfer-matrix renormalization group methods are used in the corresponding coupling regimes. At half-filling, the system is a Mott insulator with a finite spin excitation gap if the on-site Coulomb repulsion is fairly smaller than the antiferromagnetic exchange
J. This Mott insulator is characterized by the bond-charge-density-wave order or spontaneously dimerization. In the weak-coupling regime where the spin-charge separation holds approximately, the critical point separating the gapless and gapped spin liquid phases is ${U}_{c}\ensuremath{\sim}J∕2$. However, as
J increases, the spin-charge couplings become important and the critical point
Uc is significantly suppressed and eventually tends to zero as $J\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$. Away from half-filling, the charge gap completely collapses but the spin gap persists.