Instability of interfaces in the antiferromagnetic XXZ chain at zero temperature

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that in antiferromagnetic XXZ chains with odd sites, the interface is unstable at zero temperature, contrasting with the stable interfaces in ferromagnetic chains, due to energy dependence on momentum.

Contribution

It proves the instability of interfaces in antiferromagnetic XXZ chains at zero temperature, highlighting a fundamental difference from ferromagnetic cases.

Findings

Interface energy depends on momentum in antiferromagnetic chains.

Interfaces are unstable at zero temperature in antiferromagnetic XXZ chains.

Contrasts with stable ferromagnetic XXZ chain interfaces.

Abstract

For the antiferromagnetic, highly anisotropic XZ and XXZ quantum spin chains, we impose periodic boundary conditions on chains with an odd number of sites to force an interface (or kink) into the chain. We prove that the energy of the interface depends on the momentum of the state. This shows that at zero temperature the interface in such chains is not stable. This is in contrast to the ferromagnetic XXZ chain for which the existence of localized interface ground states has been proven for any amount of anisotropy in the Ising-like regime.