We study spontaneous dimerization transitions in a Heisenberg spin-1 chain with additional next-nearest neighbor (NNN) and 3-site interactions using extensive numerical simulations and a conformal field theory analysis. We show that the transition can be second order in the WZW SU(2)$_2$ or Ising universality class, or first-order. We argue that these features are generic because of a marginal operator in the WZW SU(2)$_2$ model, and because of two topologically distinct non-dimerized phases with or without edge states. We also provide explicit numerical evidence of conformal towers of singlets inside the spin gap at the Ising transition. Implications for other models are briefly discussed.
In conformal field theory, key properties of spin-1/2 chains, such as the ground state energy per site and the excitation gap scale with dimerization delta as delta^alpha with known exponents alpha and logarithmic corrections. The logarithmic corrections vanish in a spin chain with nearest (J=1) and next nearest neighbor interactions (J_2), for J_2c=0.2411. DMRG analysis of a frustrated spin chain with no logarithmic corrections yields the field theoretic values of alpha, and the scaling relation is valid up to the physically realized range, delta ~ 0.1. However, chains with logarithmic corrections (J_2<0.2411 J) are more accurately fit by simple power laws with different exponents for physically realized dimerizations. We show the exponents decreasing from approximately 3/4 to 2/3 for the spin gap and from approximately 3/2 to 4/3 for the energy per site and error bars in the exponent also decrease as J_2 approaches to J_2c.
The ground state spin-wave excitations and thermodynamic properties of two types of ferrimagnetic chains are investigated: the alternating spin-1/2 spin-5/2 chain and a similar chain with a spin-1/2 pendant attached to the spin-5/2 site. Results for magnetic susceptibility, magnetization and specific heat are obtained through the finite-temperature Lanczos method with the aim in describing available experimental data, as well as comparison with theoretical results from the semiclassical approximation and the low-temperature susceptibility expansion derived from Takahashis modified spin-wave theory. In particular, we study in detail the temperature vs. magnetic field phase diagram of the spin-1/2 spin-5/2 chain, in which several low-temperature quantum phases are identified: the Luttinger Liquid phase, the ferrimagnetic plateau and the fully polarized one, and the respective quantum critical points and crossover lines.
We explore the fidelity susceptibility and the quantum coherence along with the entanglement entropy in the ground-state of one-dimensional spin-1 XXZ chains with the rhombic single-ion anisotropy. By using the techniques of density matrix renormalization group, effects of the rhombic single-ion anisotropy on a few information theoretical measures are investigated, such as the fidelity susceptibility, the quantum coherence and the entanglement entropy. Their relations with the quantum phase transitions are also analyzed. The phase transitions from the Y-N{e}el phase to the Large-$E_x$ or the Haldane phase can be well characterized by the fidelity susceptibility. The second-order derivative of the ground-state energy indicates all the transitions are of second order. We also find that the quantum coherence, the entanglement entropy, the Schmidt gap can be used to detect the critical points of quantum phase transitions. Conclusions drawn from these quantum information observables agree well with each other. Finally we provide a ground-state phase diagram as functions of the exchange anisotropy $Delta$ and the rhombic single-ion anisotropy $E$.
We uncover a novel mechanism for inducing a gapful phase in interacting many-body quantum chains. The mechanism is nonperturbative, being triggered only in the presence of both strong interactions and strong aperiodic (disordered) modulation. In the context of the critical antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 XXZ chain, we identify an emerging dimerization which removes the system from criticality and stabilizes the novel phase. This mechanism is shown to be quite general in strongly interacting quantum chains in the presence of strongly modulated quasiperiodic disorder which is, surprisingly, perturbatively irrelevant. Finally, we also characterize the associated quantum phase transition via the corresponding critical exponents and thermodynamic properties.
We study theoretically the destruction of spin nematic order due to quantum fluctuations in quasi-one dimensional spin-1 magnets. If the nematic ordering is disordered by condensing disclinations then quantum Berry phase effects induce dimerization in the resulting paramagnet. We develop a theory for a Landau-forbidden second order transition between the spin nematic and dimerized states found in recent numerical calculations. Numerical tests of the theory are suggested.