Progress of Theoretical Physics Supplement
Effect of Staggered Field on the Magnetization Process ofS= 1/2 Antiferromagnetic Chains
Akira Matsuo, Kohei Hosokawa, Yasuo Narumi, Kouichi Okunishi, Nobuya Maeshima, Takayuki Asano, Yoshitami Ajiro, Naoyuki Ishida, Takashi Nogami, Koichi Kindo
Abstract
We measured the magnetization processes of the S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic chain compound, Cu benzoate. From the inelastic neutron scattering and the specific heat measurements it was recently discovered that the substance exhibits an unexpected gap which varies approximately as the 2/3 power of an applied magnetic field. The primary mechanism of the gap formation is produced by an effective staggered field due to both the alternating g-tensor and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. We observed the effect of the effective staggered field on the magnetization process of Cu benzoate as a rounding behavior near the saturation field as well as an initial nonlinear increment near zero field. The experimental results are well reproduced by the numerical calculation on the Hamiltonian which includes the appropriate term of the staggered field, using the finite temperature density matrix renormalization group method.