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Phase Diagram of the Anisotropic Heisenberg Spin Ladder

Tyler Hewitt

Published Sep 1, 2017• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this thesis, we deal with 1-dimensional anisotropic spin models more specifically with the chain and ladder geometries. These models are fundamental to the study of condensed matter theory and quantum magnetism because of their simplicity. Research into the chain model dates back to 1930s with Hans Bethe. One method to study these systems is through numerical analysis including renormalization group techniques. These allow for the diagonalization of the Hamiltonian without sacrificing computation to a large virtual Hilbert space. In this thesis, we present results for both the spin chain and spin ladder geometries in open boundary conditions. This work uses the density matrix renormalization group technique to calculate system energy. Initially we will present a study into the spin energy gap of the spin-\sfrac{1}{2} anisotropic (XXZ) Heisenberg chain in open boundary conditions (OBCs). The energy gap is shown to be reduced to half in the ground sector when compared to periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) due to edge effects. Secondly, a full phase diagram for the spin-\sfrac{1}{2} anisotropic Heisenberg ladder is presented which shows the emergence of a rich schematic with a variety of phases. Lastly, weak coupling limit maps are compared to quantum field theory phase transition predictions. This research was motivated by the lack of comprehensive phase diagram results for ladders and by real materials being investigated at the University of Kent.

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In this thesis, we deal with 1-dimensional anisotropic spin models more specifically with the chain and ladder geometries. These models are fundamental to the study of condensed matter theory and quantum magnetism because of their simplicity. Research into the chain model dates back to 1930s with Hans Bethe. One method to study these systems is through numerical analysis including renormalization group techniques. These allow for the diagonalization of the Hamiltonian without sacrificing computation to a large virtual Hilbert space. In this thesis, we present results for both the spin chain and spin ladder geometries in open boundary conditions. This work uses the density matrix renormalization group technique to calculate system energy. Initially we will present a study into the spin energy gap of the spin-\sfrac{1}{2} anisotropic (XXZ) Heisenberg chain in open boundary conditions (OBCs). The energy gap is shown to be reduced to half in the ground sector when compared to periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) due to edge effects. Secondly, a full phase diagram for the spin-\sfrac{1}{2} anisotropic Heisenberg ladder is presented which shows the emergence of a rich schematic with a variety of phases. Lastly, weak coupling limit maps are compared to quantum field theory phase transition predictions. This research was motivated by the lack of comprehensive phase diagram results for ladders and by real materials being investigated at the University of Kent.
This thesis investigates the ground-state properties and quantum phase diagrams of low-dimensional spin systems, with a focus on spin–1/2 ladder chains and related models. These systems provide a fertile ground for exploring the interplay between magnetic frus- tration, quantum correlations, topology, and external fields. By combining advanced nu- merical methods, primarily the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG), with ana- lytical approaches, we analyze how different coupling geometries and magnetic fields give rise to distinct quantum phases, including magnetization plateaus, symmetry-protected and topological phases, and first-order transitions. The study covers both uniform and alternating ladders, as well as coupled ladder systems that interpolate between one- and two-dimensional behavior. In particular, we examine how frustration influences the stabil- ity of collective spin states, and how interladder couplings can drive transitions between resonating valence bond (RVB) states, Haldane phases, and trivial phases hosting collec- tive spin excitations. Although approximate analytical models, such as hard-core boson mappings and spin-wave theory, capture some qualitative aspects of these systems, our results highlight their limitations in accurately describing critical behavior and phase boundaries, reinforcing the importance of high-precision numerical analysis.
A large variety of materials can be approximately described by means of spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladders. Here, the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) algorithm together with a previously established numerical self-consistent mean-field approximation is used to investigate the magnetic properties of spin ladders coupled in a second dimension. The full ground state phase diagram including spin-gapped, antiferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic and fully polarized phases is presented as a function of interladder and intraladder coupling and magnetic field. Measurement of the dependence of magnetization on applied magnetic field is shown to enable location of a material on the phase diagram and determination of the Hamiltonian parameters. These results provide a practical route toward identifying and characterizing magnetic materials composed of coupled spin ladders.
We study the one-dimensional S = 1/2 Heisenberg model with an uniform and a staggered magnetic fields, using the dynamical density-matrix renormalization group (DDMRG) technique. The DDMRG enables us to investigate the dynamical properties of chain with lengths up to a few hundreds, and the results are numerically exact in the same sense as 'exact diagonalization' results are. Thus, we can analyze the low-energy spectrum almost in the thermodynamic limit. In this work, we calculate the dynamical spin structure factor and demonstrate the performance of the DDMRG method applying the open-end boundary conditions as well as the periodic boundary conditions.
We study the ground-state phase diagram of the quantum spin-2 XXZ chain in the presence of on-site anisotropy using a matrix-product state based infinite-system density matrix renormalization group (iDMRG) algorithm. One of the interests in this system is in connecting the highly quantum-mechanical spin-1 phase diagram with the classical $S=\ensuremath{\infty}$ phase diagram. Several of the recent advances within DMRG make it possible to perform a detailed analysis of the whole phase diagram. We consider different types of on-site anisotropies, which allows us to establish the validity of the following statements: (1) the spin-2 model can be tuned into a phase, which is equivalent to the ``topologically nontrivial'' spin-1 Haldane phase, and (2) the spin-2 Haldane phase at the isotropic Heisenberg point is adiabatically connected to the ``trivial'' large-DDD phase, with a continuous change of the Hamiltonian parameters. Furthermore, we study the spin-3 XXZ chain to help explain the development of the classical phase diagram. We present details on how to use the iDMRG method to map out the phase diagram and include an extensive discussion of the numerical methods.
The spin-1/2 quantum anisotropic XY\mathrm{XY}XY spin chain in a transverse random magnetic field parallel to the z axis is numerically studied by means of the density-matrix renormalization group. The dependence of the spontaneous magnetization and the energy gap on both the strength of the random magnetic field and the factor of anisotropy is determined. The critical line for the order-disorder phase transition is obtained and the resulting phase diagram is drawn. Our results are compatible with the fact that models with different factors of anisotropy fall within the same universality class as the quantum Ising model in a transverse random field.
One dimensional quantum magnets have always been an active area of research due to their experimental realizability and the rich physics that they offer. By including geometrical frustration and additional interactions, it leads to even more novel and exotic quantum phases. In this thesis, we present the results of our investigations conducted by extending the quantum systems to spin–1. We conducted static, topological and dynamical calculations numerically on the spin–1 Heisenberg chain with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in a uniform magnetic field in the form of a spin–1 Heisenberg chain in a helical magnetic field as well as the spin–1 Heisenberg model on the spin diamond and orthogonal dimer lattices. For the spin–1 Heisenberg chain in a helical field, we obtained the phase diagram using the density matrix renormalization group method and showed conclusively that the helical field destroys any topological order. We also obtained the dynamical spin structure factor spectra to study the magnon band structures and the softening of the modes near phase transitions. We then investigated the spin–1 Heisenberg model on the spin diamond and orthogonal dimer lattices using both exact diagonalization and the density matrix renormalization group method. We obtained the phase diagrams for both systems and explicitly calculated the magnetization, static spin structure and topological order of the different phases. Similar to the spin–1 Heisenberg chain in a helical magnetic field, we also obtained the dynamical spin structure factor spectra to study the characteristics of the lowest excitation occurring in both quantum systems.