Vector chiral states in low-dimensional quantum spin systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces exact vector chiral ground states in low-dimensional quantum spin systems, constructed via non-uniform rotations of AKLT states, and explores their excitation properties and higher-dimensional generalizations.

Contribution

It presents a novel method to generate vector chiral states from AKLT states using non-uniform O(2) rotations, expanding the understanding of chiral order in quantum spin systems.

Findings

Chiral AKLT states exhibit robust excitation gaps.

Vector chirality can be induced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.

Construction of chiral states is possible in higher dimensions.

Abstract

A class of exact spin ground states with nonzero averages of vector spin chirality, $<\v{S}_i \times \v{S}_j \cdot \hat{z}>$, is presented. It is obtained by applying non-uniform O(2) rotations of spin operators in the XY plane on the SU(2)-invariant Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) states and their parent Hamiltonians. Excitation energies of the new ground states are studied with the use of single-mode approximation in one dimension for S=1. The excitation gap remains robust. Construction of chiral AKLT states is shown to be possible in higher dimensions. We also present a general idea to produce vector chirality-condensed ground states as non-uniform O(2) rotations of the non-chiral parent states. Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is shown to imply non-zero spin chirality.