Instability of the Haldane Phase: Roles of Charge Fluctuations and Hund's Coupling

TL;DR

This study explores how charge fluctuations and Hund's coupling influence the stability of the Haldane phase in ladder systems, revealing conditions under which SPT order persists or breaks down.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of the stability of the Haldane phase in Hubbard ladders with Hund's coupling, highlighting the interplay of charge and spin degrees of freedom.

Findings

Haldane phase strengthens with Hund's coupling in spin-only ladders.

Charge fluctuations can destabilize the Haldane phase in Hubbard ladders.

Boundaries between trivial and Haldane phases depend on Coulomb and Hund's interactions.

Abstract

We systematically investigate the stability of the symmetry-protected topological (SPT) Haldane phase in spin-1/2 Heisenberg and half-filled Hubbard ladders coupled by ferromagnetic Hund's interactions. Using density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method, we analyze key signatures of the Haldane phase: long-range string order, finite spin gap, and characteristic entanglement spectrum degeneracies. In spin-only Heisenberg ladders, we find immediate onset and continuous strengthening of the Haldane phase with increasing Hund's coupling. In contrast, the inclusion of charge fluctuations in Hubbard ladders leads to a nontrivial stability regime, revealing a robust yet bounded region where SPT order persists despite significant charge fluctuations. We identify distinct boundaries separating a trivial insulating phase from the Haldane SPT phase, governed by both Coulomb repulsion and Hund's coupling. Our results highlight the subtle interplay of spin and charge degrees of freedom in correlated itinerant systems and establish essential criteria for observing Haldane physics experimentally in fermionic ladder materials.