Excitations in one-dimensional S = 1/2 quantum antiferromagnets

The transition from dimerized to uniform phases is studied in terms of spectral weights for spin chains using continuous unitary transformations. The spectral weights in the S=1 channel are computed perturbatively around the limit of strong dimerization. We find that the spectral weight is concentrated mainly in the subspaces with a small number of elementary triplets (triplons), even for vanishing dimerization. So, besides spinons, triplons may be used as elementary excitations in spin chains. We conclude that there is no necessity to use fractional excitations in low-dimensional, undoped, or doped quantum antiferromagnets.     

A direct proof of dimerization in a family of <Emphasis Type="Italic">SU</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>)-invariant quantum spin chains

We study the family of spin-S quantum spin chains with a nearest neighbor interaction given by the negative of the singlet projection operator. Using a random loop representation of the partition function in the limit of zero temperature and standard techniques of classical statistical mechanics, we prove dimerization for all sufficiently large values of S.     

Disordered and ordered states in a frustrated Heisenberg Hamiltonian with spatial anisotropy

We use a recently proposed perturbative numerical renormalization group algorithm to investigate ground-state properties of a frustrated three-dimensional Heisenberg model on an anisotropic lattice. We analyze the ground-state energy, the finite size spin gap and the static magnetic structure factor. We find in two dimensions a frustration-induced gapless spin liquid state which separates two magnetically ordered phases. In the spin liquid state, the magnetic structure factor shows evidence that this state is made of nearly disconnected chains reminiscent of a sliding Luttinger liquid. This spin liquid state is unstable against unfrustrated interplane couplings.     

Electron spin resonance signal of Luttinger liquids and single-wall carbon nanotubes

A comprehensive theory of electron spin resonance (ESR) for a Luttinger liquid state of correlated metals is presented. The ESR measurables such as the signal intensity and the linewidth are calculated in the framework of Luttinger liquid theory with broken spin rotational symmetry as a function of magnetic field and temperature. We obtain a significant temperature dependent homogeneous line broadening which is related to the spin-symmetry breaking and the electron-electron interaction. The result crosses over smoothly to the ESR of itinerant electrons in the noninteracting limit. These findings explain the absence of the long-sought ESR signal of itinerant electrons in single-wall carbon nanotubes when considering realistic experimental conditions.     

Spin liquid phases for spin-1 systems on the triangular lattice

Motivated by recent experiments on material Ba3NiSb2O9, we propose two novel spin liquid phases (A and B) for spin-1 systems on a triangular lattice. At the mean field level, both spin liquid phases have gapless fermionic spinon excitations with quadratic band touching; thus, in both phases the spin susceptibility and γ=C(v)/T saturate to a constant at zero temperature, which are consistent with the experimental results on Ba3NiSb2O9. On the lattice scale, these spin liquid phases have Sp(4)~SO(5) gauge fluctuation, while in the long wavelength limit this Sp(4) gauge symmetry is broken down to U(1)×Z(2) in the type A spin liquid phase, and broken down to Z(4) in the type B phase. We also demonstrate that the A phase is the parent state of the ferroquadrupole state, nematic state, and the noncollinear spin density wave state.     

First excitations of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice

We study the exact low energy spectra of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on small samples of the kagomé lattice of up to N=36 sites. In agreement with the conclusions of previous authors, we find that these low energy spectra contradict the hypothesis of Néel type long range order. Certainly, the ground state of this system is a spin liquid, but its properties are rather unusual. The magnetic () excitations are separated from the ground state by a gap. However, this gap is filled with nonmagnetic () excitations. In the thermodynamic limit the spectrum of these nonmagnetic excitations will presumably develop into a gapless continuum adjacent to the ground state. Surprisingly, the eigenstates of samples with an odd number of sites, i.e. samples with an unsaturated spin, exhibit symmetries which could support long range chiral order. We do not know if these states will be true thermodynamic states or only metastable ones. In any case, the low energy properties of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice clearly distinguish this system from either a short range RVB spin liquid or a standard chiral spin liquid. Presumably they are facets of a generically new state of frustrated two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets. Received: 27 November 1997 / Accepted: 29 January 1998     

Topological spin liquid on the hyperkagome lattice of Na4Ir3O8

Recent experiments on the "hyperkagome" lattice system Na4Ir3O8 have demonstrated that it is a rare example of a three-dimensional spin-1/2 frustrated antiferromagnet. We investigate the role of quantum fluctuations as the primary mechanism lifting the macroscopic degeneracy inherited by classical spins on this lattice. In the semiclassical limit we predict, based on large-N calculations, that an unusual q[over -->]=0 coplanar magnetically ordered ground state is stabilized with no local zero modes that correspond to local deformations of the spin configurations. This phase melts in the quantum limit and a gapped topological Z2 spin liquid phase emerges. In the vicinity of this quantum phase transition, we study the dynamic spin structure factor and comment on the relevance of our results for future neutron scattering experiments.     

Dimensional crossover in alternating spin chains

The effect of antiferromagnetic interchain coupling in alternating spin chains is studied by means of spin wave (SW) theory and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG). Two limiting cases are investigated, the two-leg ladder and its two-dimensional (2D) generalization. For the 2D case, SW approximation predicts a smooth-dimensional crossover keeping the ground state ordered, whereas in the ladder case the DMRG results show a gapped ground state for any J>0. Furthermore, the behavior of the correlation functions closely resemble the uniform spin- ladder. However, for small J, the gap behaves quadratically as Δ0.6J². Similarly to uniform spin chains, it is conjectured an analogous spin gap behavior for an arbitrary number of mixed spin chains.     

Thermally activated Peierls dimerization in ferromagnetic spin chains

We demonstrate that a Peierls dimerization can occur in ferromagnetic spin chains activated by thermal fluctuations. The dimer order parameter and entanglement measures are studied as functions of the modulation of the magnetic exchange interaction and temperature, using a spin-wave theory and the density-matrix renormalization group. We discuss the case where a periodic modulation is caused by spin-phonon coupling and the case where electronic states effectively induce such a modulation. The importance of the latter for a number of transition metal oxides is highlighted.     

Magnetic ground state and transition of a quantum multiferroic LiCu2O2

Based on resonant soft x-ray magnetic scattering, we report that LiCu2O2 exhibits a large interchain coupling which suppresses quantum fluctuations along spin chains, and a quasi-2D short-range magnetic order prevails at temperatures above the magnetic transition. These observations unravel the fact that the ground state of LiCu2O2 possesses long-range 2D-like incommensurate magnetic order rather than being a gapped spin liquid as expected from the nature of quantum spin-1/2 chains. In addition, the spin coupling along the c axis is found to be essential for inducing electric polarization.     

Droplet States in the XXZ Heisenberg Chain

We consider the ground states of the ferromagnetic XXZ chain with spin up boundary conditions. The ground state of this model, restricted to a sector with a fixed number of down spins, describes a droplet of down spins in an environment of up spins. We find the exact energy and the states that describe these droplets in the limit of an infinite number of down spins. We prove that there is a gap in the spectrum above the droplet states. As the XXZ Hamiltonian has a gap above the fully magnetized ground states as well, this means that the droplet states (for sufficiently large droplets) form an isolated band. The width of this band tends to zero in the limit of infinitely large droplets. We also prove the analogous results for finite chains with periodic boundary conditions and for the infinite chain. Received: 5 September 2000 / Accepted: 8 December 2000     

Interchain impurity substitution effects on the magnetoelastic coupling in CuGeO3

We report the polarized far-infrared transmittance of Si-doped CuGeO₃ single crystals as a function of impurity concentration and applied magnetic field at low temperature. We use the behavior of the 44 cm⁻¹ spin gap excitation and the 98 cm⁻¹ zone-folding mode structure to investigate the interaction between the magnetic system and the lattice distortion. We find that interchain impurity substitution collapses the spin gap before it suppresses the lattice dimerization, a result that is understood in terms of the relative length scales for lattice distortion and spin singlet formation as well as criteria for magnetoelastic coupling in chains.     

量子自旋液体候选材料的缪子自旋弛豫研究

量子自旋液体是一种新奇的磁性物态。由于极强的量子涨落,直至零温都不会出现长程序。量子自旋液体的基态不能用序参量描述,并且缺少对称性破缺,因此该物态的实现打破朗道理论的范式。对于量子自旋液体的研究有助于理解高温超导的机理,并且可以被应用在量子计算和量子信息中。目前,尽管理论上有了长足的发展,但仍旧没有任何一个材料被证实为量子自旋液体。因此,探测和确认一个真正的量子自旋液体材料是当前的研究重点。缪子自旋弛豫是一个对磁场极为敏感的实验技术,被广泛应用于量子自旋液体候选材料的研究中。该技术可以观测基态中是否存在磁有序,测量系统中的涨落频率,这两点都是表征量子自旋液体的重要性质。本文简要介绍了量子自旋液体态和缪子自旋弛豫技术,回顾了近期在不同体系的量子自旋液体候选材料中的实验结果,特别是缪子自旋弛豫的成果。这些体系包括一维反铁磁海森堡链（苯甲酸铜）,三角格子（YbMgGaO4,NaYbO2 和TbInO3）,笼目格[ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2 和 m3Sb3Zn2O14],蜂窝状格子（Na2IrO3 和 α-RuCl3）,以及烧绿石结构（Tb2Ti2O7,Pr2Ir2O7 和Ce2Zr2O7）。     

Magnetic properties of the low dimensional spin system (VO)PO:ESR and susceptibility

Experimental results on magnetic resonance (ESR) and magnetic susceptibility are given for single crystalline (VO)₂P₂O₇. The crystal growth procedure is briefly discussed. The susceptibility is interpreted numerically using a model with alternating spin chains. We determine J =51 K and . Furthermore we find a spin gap of meV from our ESR measurements. Using elastic constants no indication of a phase transition forcing the dimerization is seen below 300 K. Received: 22 December 1997 / Accepted: 17 March 1998     

Drude weight at finite temperatures for some nonintegrable quantum systems in one dimension

Using conformal perturbation theory, we show that, for some classes of the one-dimensional quantum liquids that possess the Luttinger liquid fixed point in the low-energy limit, the Drude weight at finite temperatures is nonvanishing, even when the system is nonintegrable and the total current is not conserved. We also obtain the asymptotically exact low-temperature formula of the Drude weight for Heisenberg XXZ spin chains, which agrees quite well with recent numerical data.     

Thermodynamic Limit for a Spin Lattice

An integrable spin lattice is a higher dimensional generalization of integrable spin chains. In this paper we consider a special spin lattice related to quantum mechanical interpretation of the three-dimensional lattice model in statistical mechanics (Zamolodchikov and Baxter). The integrability means the existence of a set of mutually commuting operators expressed in the terms of local spin variables. The significant difference between spin chain and spin lattice is that the commuting set for the latter is produced by a transfer matrix with two equitable spectral parameters. There is a specific bilinear functional equation for the eigenvalues of this transfer matrix.The spin lattice is investigated in this paper in the limit when both sizes of the lattice tend to infinity. The limiting form of bilinear equation is derived. It allows to analyze the distributions of eigenvalues of the whole commuting set. The ground state distribution is obtained explicitly. A structure of excited states is discussed.     

利用信息流方法优化多激发自旋链中的量子态传输

研究了量子态在一条均匀耦合的反铁磁自旋链中传输时, 信道中自旋激发数变化对其传输性质的影响. 利用信息流方法分析输出端粒子的算符演化动力学, 获得了量子态传输的平均保真度与信道自旋初态之间的关系. 结果表明, 平均保真度的大小只依赖于信道中自旋激发数的奇偶性. 通过比较在奇偶激发信道中获得的最大平均保真度, 构建了优化信道来提升量子态在自旋链中的传输质量. 进一步分析了纠缠在激发信道中的传输情况, 发现纠缠的传输质量不仅和信道中自旋激发的具体个数有关, 还取决于激发自旋的初始排列. 特别地, 当信道中自旋无激发或全部激发时, 纠缠传输的大小和持续时间都优于其他的激发信道. 上述研究结果有助于在实际系统中搭建适合量子态和纠缠传输的量子信道.     

Quantum spin liquid in frustrated one-dimensional LiCuSbO4

A quantum magnet, LiCuSbO4, with chains of edge-sharing spin-1/2 CuO6 octahedra is reported. While short-range order is observed for T<10 K, no zero-field phase transition or spin freezing occurs down to 100 mK. Specific heat indicates a distinct high-field phase near the 12 T saturation field. Neutron scattering shows incommensurate spin correlations with q=(0.47±0.01)π/a and places an upper limit of 70 μeV on any spin gap. Exact diagonalization of 16-spin easy-plane spin-1/2 chains with competing ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions (J1=-75 K, J2=34 K) accounts for the T>2 K data.     

Dimerization and charge order in hollandite K₂V₈O₁₆

The metal-insulator transition occurring in hollandite K?V?O?? has been studied by means of neutron and x-ray diffraction as well as by thermodynamic and electron-spin resonance measurements. The complete analysis of the crystal structure in the distorted phase allows us to identify dimerization as the main distortion element in insulating K?V?O??. At low-temperature, half of the V chains are dimerized perfectly explaining the suppression of magnetic susceptibility due to the formation of spin singlets. The dimerization is accompanied by the segregation of charges into chains.     

Magnetic-field dependence of the specific heat in planar spin chains

The specific heat of theXY model develops a characteristic double peak as a function of an applied magnetic field at relatively low temperatures. We argue that such a behavior is generic for planar spin chains, including chains with single-site anisotropy, and should be amenable to experimental observation. We also show that anharmonic corrections in the standard spin-wave theory exhibit certain infrared anomalies which limit the validity of perturbative calculations.