1110.4467 (M. Shahri Naseri et al.)

Magnetic properties of the spin $S=1/2$ Heisenberg chain with hexamer
modulation of exchange    [PDF]

M. Shahri Naseri, G. I. Japaridze, S. Mahdavifar, S. Farjami Shayesteh

We consider the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain with alternating spin exchange %on
even and odd sites in the presence of additional modulation of exchange on odd
bonds with period three. We study the ground state magnetic phase diagram of
this hexamer spin chain in the limit of very strong antiferromagnetic (AF)
exchange on odd bonds using the numerical Lanczos method and bosonization
approach. In the limit of strong magnetic field commensurate with the
dominating AF exchange, the model is mapped onto an effective $XXZ$ Heisenberg
chain in the presence of uniform and spatially modulated fields, which is
studied using the standard continuum-limit bosonization approach. In absence of
additional hexamer modulation, the model undergoes a quantum phase transition
from a gapped string order into the only one gapless L\"uttinger liquid (LL)
phase by increasing the magnetic field. In the presence of hexamer modulation,
two new gapped phases are identified in the ground state at magnetization equal
to 1/3 and 2/3 of the saturation value. These phases reveal themselves also in
magnetization curve as plateaus at corresponding values of magnetization. As
the result, the magnetic phase diagram of the hexamer chain shows seven
different quantum phases, four gapped and three gapless and the system is
characterized by six critical fields which mark quantum phase transitions
between the ordered gapped and the LL gapless phases.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4467