A comparative study of the phase diagrams of spin-$1 \over 2$ and spin-$1$ antiferromagnetic chains with dimerization and frustration

TL;DR

This study uses the density matrix renormalization group method to compare phase diagrams of spin-1/2 and spin-1 antiferromagnetic chains with dimerization and frustration, revealing gap behaviors, phase transitions, and structure factor characteristics.

Contribution

It provides a detailed comparative analysis of phase diagrams for spin-1/2 and spin-1 chains with frustration and dimerization, identifying critical lines and phase boundaries.

Findings

Spin-1/2 chain is gapless at zero frustration and dimerization, gapped elsewhere.

Spin-1 chain exhibits a line of gapless points and phase degeneracies.

Both systems show disorder lines and distinct Neel and spiral phases.

Abstract

We use the density matrix renormalization group method to study the ground state `phase' diagram and some low-energy properties of isotropic antiferromagnetic spin-$1 \over 2$ and spin-$1$ chains with a next-nearest neighbor exchange $J_2 ~$ and an alternation $\delta$ of the nearest neighbor exchanges. In the spin-$1 \over 2$ chain, the system is gapless for $\delta=0$ and $J_2 < J_{2c} =0.241$, and is gapped everywhere else in the $J_2 - \delta$ plane. At $J_{2c}$, for small $\delta$, the gap increases as $\delta^{\alpha}$, where $\alpha = 0.667 \pm 0.001$. $2J_2 + \delta = 1$ is a disorder line. To the left of this line, the structure factor $S(q)$ peaks at $q_{max} = \pi$ (Neel `phase'), while to the right, $q_{max}$ decreases from $\pi$ to $\pi/2$ (spiral `phase') as $J_2$ increases. There is also a `$\uparrow \uparrow \downarrow \downarrow$ phase' for large values of both $J_2$ and $\delta$. In the spin-$1$ case, we find a line running from a gapless point at $(J_2 , \delta) = (0,0.25 \pm 0.01)$ upto a `gapless' point at $(0.73 \pm 0.005,0)$ such that the open chain ground state is four-fold degenerate below the line and is unique above it. There is a disorder line in this case also and it has the same equation as in the spin-$1 \over 2$ case, but the line ends at about $\delta =0.136$. Similar to the spin-$1 \over 2$ case, to the left of this line, the peak in the structure factor is at $\pi$ (Neel `phase'), while to the right of the line, it is at less than $\pi$ (spiral `phase'). For $\delta =1$, the system corresponds to a spin ladder and the system is gapped for all values of the interchain coupling for both spin-$1 \over 2$ and spin-$1$ ladders.