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arXiv:cond-mat/9507055 · Physical Review Letters

Random Quantum Spin Chains: A Real-Space Renormalization Group Study

E. Westerberg, Akira Furusaki, Manfred Sigrist, Patrick A. Lee

Published Dec 4, 1995• 92 citations
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Abstract

Quantum Heisenberg spin chains with random couplings and spin sizes are studied using a real-space renormalization group technique. These systems belong to a new universality class of disordered quantum spin systems realized in, e.g., ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{3}\mathrm{Cu}{\mathrm{Pt}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ir}}_{x}{\mathrm{O}}_{6}$. The low-energy fixed point is characterized by the formation of weakly coupled large effective spins. At low temperature $T$ the entropy obeys a power law ${T}^{\ensuremath{\delta}}$ ($\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\approx}0.44$), and the susceptibility follows a Curie-like behavior.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.75.4302

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Quantum Heisenberg spin chains with random couplings and spin sizes are studied using a real-space renormalization group technique. These systems belong to a new universality class of disordered quantum spin systems realized in, e.g., Sr3CuPt1\ensuremath−xIrxO6{\mathrm{Sr}}_{3}\mathrm{Cu}{\mathrm{Pt}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ir}}_{x}{\mathrm{O}}_{6}Sr3​CuPt1\ensuremath−x​Irx​O6​. The low-energy fixed point is characterized by the formation of weakly coupled large effective spins. At low temperature TTT the entropy obeys a power law T\ensuremathδ{T}^{\ensuremath{\delta}}T\ensuremathδ (\ensuremathδ\ensuremath≈0.44\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\approx}0.44\ensuremathδ\ensuremath≈0.44), and the susceptibility follows a Curie-like behavior.
The one-dimensional isotropic quantum Heisenberg spin systems with random couplings and random spin sizes are investigated using a real-space renormalization-group scheme. It is demonstrated that these systems belong to a universality class of disordered spin systems, characterized by weakly coupled large effective spins. In this large-spin phase the uniform magnetic susceptibility diverges as ${\mathrm{T}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ with a nonuniversal Curie constant at low temperatures T, while the specific heat vanishes as ${\mathrm{T}}^{\mathrm{|}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\alpha}}\mathrm{|}}$|ln T| for T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0. For a broad range of initial distributions of couplings and spin sizes the distribution functions approach a single fixed-point form, where \ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\approx}-0.44. For some singular initial distributions, however, the fixed-point form of distributions becomes nonuniversal, suggesting that there is a line of fixed points.
We introduce and implement a reformulation of the strong-disorder renormalization group method in real space, well suited to study bond-disordered antiferromagnetic power-law coupled quantum spin chains. We apply it to a chain of randomly placed spins coupled by power-law long-range interaction with power $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. First, keeping only interactions between adjacent spins, we derive the Master equation and confirm that it is solved by the infinite randomness fixed-point distribution. Then, we derive the master equation for power-law long-range interaction between all spins for any anisotropy $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ ranging from the XX limit, $\ensuremath{\gamma}=0$, to the isotropic Heisenberg limit, $\ensuremath{\gamma}=1,$ which corresponds to a tight-binding chain of disordered long-range interacting fermions with long-range hopping. We thereby show that the distribution function of couplings JJJ smaller than renormalization scale $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}$ flows to the strong-disorder fixed-point distribution of finite width $2\ensuremath{\alpha}.$ We find only small corrections to that distribution, which depend on power exponent $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ and coupling anisotropy $\ensuremath{\gamma}.$ As a consequence, the low-temperature magnetic susceptibility diverges with an anomalous power law. The distribution of singlet lengths lll is found to decay as ${l}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. The entanglement entropy of a subsystem of length nnn increases in the ground state logarithmically for all $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$. After a global quantum quench, the entanglement entropy increases with time logarithmically as $S(t)\ensuremath{\sim}ln(t)/(2\ensuremath{\alpha})$.
The effect of quenched disorder on the low-energy and low-temperature properties of various two- and three-dimensional Heisenberg models is studied by a numerical strong disorder renormalization-group method. For strong enough disorder we have identified two relevant fixed points, in which the gap exponent, $\ensuremath{\omega},$ describing the low-energy tail of the gap distribution $P(\ensuremath{\Delta})\ensuremath{\sim}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{\ensuremath{\omega}}$ is independent of disorder, the strength of couplings, and the value of the spin. The dynamical behavior of nonfrustrated random antiferromagnetic models is controlled by a singletlike fixed point, whereas for frustrated models the fixed point corresponds to a large spin formation and the gap exponent is given by $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\approx}0.$ Another type of universality class is observed at quantum critical points and in dimerized phases but no infinite randomness behavior is found, in contrast to that of one-dimensional models.
Quenched disorders can strongly influence the physical properties of quantum many-body systems. The real-space strong-disorder renormalization group (SDRG) analysis has shown that the spin-1/2 random Heisenberg chain is controlled by the infinite-randomness fixed point (IRFP) and forms a random singlet (RS) ground state. Motivated by recent thermal transport experiments on the quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet copper benzoate [B. Y. Pan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 167201 (2022)], we adapt the SDRG to study the low-temperature properties of the random Heisenberg chain by assuming that its low-energy excited states are captured by the parent Hamiltonian of the RS ground state as well. We find that while the specific heat coefficient and the uniform magnetic susceptibility scale as $C/T\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{c}}$ and $\ensuremath{\chi}\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{s}}$ with $0<{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{c,s}<1$, indicating a divergent low-energy density of states, the thermal and the spin conductivities scale as $\ensuremath{\kappa}/T\ensuremath{\sim}T$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{s}\ensuremath{\sim}T$, which implies a vanishing density of extended states in the low-energy limit. We believe that such a disparity in the thermodynamic and transport properties is a common feature of random systems controlled by the IRFP.
This dissertation is a systematic theoretical effort to investigate the low-energy properties of random antiferromagnetic quantum spin-1/2 systems beyond one dimension. We use the celebrated real space renormalization group (RSRG) technique developed by Dasgupta, Ma, and Hu to understand the static and dynamic properties of random antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 ladders and weakly coupled random antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains. Pure antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 ladders are known to be in the spin liquid phase with a ¯nite energy gap in the excitation spectrum and a short range spin-spin correlation. We are interested in investigating the nature of these systems when disorder, controlled by bond randomness and the presence of impurities, is introduced. Using real-space renormalization group method we are able to find that when disorder comes from bond randomness only, the system flows into a Griffith phase which is characterized by non-universal diverging spin susceptibility and short-range spin-spin correlation. When impurities with spin 0 or 1 are introduced into the system, the system flows into a different fixed point which is controlled by large effective spins whose susceptibility is characterized by a universal Curie-like 1=T behavior. This conclusion holds for any impurities with integer spin. We also study the low-energy collective excitations and dynamical response functions of weakly coupled random antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains at low temperature whose low energy properties are governed by the strong-randomness fixed point. By combining RSRG technique to tackle the intrachain couplings and Random Phase Approximation (RPA) formalism for the interchain couplings, we show that the system supports collective spin wave excitations with linear dispersions and calculate the spin wave velocity in terms of microscopic parameters of the chain. Our result agrees with the measured dispersion for Zn-doped CuGeO3 where it shows a linear dispersion along the chain. We predict the spectra weight within RPA which can be qualitatively compared to the scattering intensity in the Inelastic Neutron Scattering experiment.
A real-space, zero-temperature renormalization-group method is used to study a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic spin chain with long-range interactions varying as ${(\mathrm{distance})}^{\ensuremath{-}p}$. Simple renormalization-group equations are obtained and studied analytically, and the results are checked against a more accurate numerical calculation. The calculations provide evidence for a phase transition at $p\ensuremath{\approx}1.85$ characterized by a change in the behavior of zero-temperature correlation functions. For $p\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1.85$ the large-distance physics is that of the nearest-neighbor antiferromagnet, while there is a line of fixed points for $p\ensuremath{\lesssim}1.85$. I conjecture that $p\ensuremath{\approx}1.85$ also marks an order-disorder transition at finite temperature such as occurs in the Ising model with power-law interactions.