Exact two-spinon dynamic structure factor of the one-dimensional s=12 Heisenberg-Ising antiferromagnet

Abstract

The exact two-spinon part of the dynamic spin structure factor ${S}_{\mathrm{xx}}(Q,\ensuremath{\omega})$ for the one-dimensional $s=1/2,$ $\mathrm{XXZ}$ model at $T=0$ in the antiferromagnetically ordered phase is calculated using recent advances in the algebraic analysis based on (infinite-dimensional) quantum group symmetries of this model and the related vertex models. The two-spinon excitations form a two-parameter continuum consisting of two partly overlapping sheets in $(Q,\ensuremath{\omega})$ space. The spectral threshold has a smooth maximum at the Brillouin zone boundary $(Q=\ensuremath{\pi}/2)$ and a smooth minimum with a gap at the zone center $(Q=0).$ The two-spinon density of states has square-root divergences at the lower and upper continuum boundaries. For the two-spinon transition rates, the two regimes $0<~Q<{Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}$ (near the zone center) and ${Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}<Q<~\ensuremath{\pi}/2$ (near the zone boundary) must be distinguished, where ${Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ in the Heisenberg limit and ${Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\pi}/2$ in the Ising limit. In the regime ${Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}<Q<~\ensuremath{\pi}/2,$ the two-spinon transition rates relevant for ${S}_{\mathrm{xx}}(Q,\ensuremath{\omega})$ are finite at the lower boundary of each sheet, decrease monotonically with increasing \ensuremath{\omega}, and approach zero linearly at the upper boundary. The resulting two-spinon part of ${S}_{\mathrm{xx}}(Q,\ensuremath{\omega})$ is then square-root divergent at the spectral threshold and vanishes in a square-root cusp at the upper boundary. In the regime $0<{Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}<~\ensuremath{\pi}/2,$ in contrast, the two-spinon transition rates have a smooth maximum inside the continuum and vanish linearly at either boundary. In the associated two-spinon line shapes of ${S}_{\mathrm{xx}}(Q,\ensuremath{\omega}),$ the linear cusps at the continuum boundaries are replaced by square-root cusps. Existing perturbation studies have been unable to capture the physics of the regime ${Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}<Q<~\ensuremath{\pi}/2.$ However, their line-shape predictions for the regime $0<~Q<{Q}_{\ensuremath{\kappa}}$ are in good agreement with the exact results if the anisotropy is very strong. For weak anisotropies, the exact line shapes are more asymmetric.