Generic mixed columnar-plaquette phases in Rokhsar-Kivelson models

We revisit the phase diagram of Rokhsar-Kivelson models, which are used in fields such as superconductivity, frustrated magnetism, cold bosons, and the physics of Josephson junction arrays. From an extended height effective theory, we show that one of two simple generic phase diagrams contains a mixed phase that interpolates continuously between columnar and plaquette states. For the square lattice quantum dimer model we present evidence from exact diagonalization and Green's function Monte Carlo techniques that this scenario is realised, by combining an analysis of the excitation gaps of different symmetry sectors with information on plaquette structure factors. This presents a natural framework for resolving the disagreement between previous studies.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Phase diagram of the two-dimensional t--J model at low doping

The phase diagram of the planar t--J model at small hole doping is investigated by finite size scaling of exact diagonalisation data of NXN clusters (up to 26). Hole-droplet binding energies, compressibility and static spin and charge correlations are calculated. Short range antiferromagnetic correlations can produce attractive forces between holes leading to a very rich phase diagram including a liquid of d-wave hole pairs (for $J/t\gtrsim 0.2$), a liquid of hole droplets (quartets) for larger J/t ratios ($J/t\gtrsim 0.5$) and, at even larger coupling J/t, an instability towards phase separation.Comment: 3 pages, latex, 5 postscript figures, uuencode

Breathers and Raman scattering in a two-leg ladder with staggered Dzialoshinskii-Moriya interaction

Recent experiments have revealed the role of staggered Dzialoshinskii-Moriya interaction in the magnetized phase of an antiferromagnetic spin 1/2 two-leg ladder compound under a uniform magnetic field. We derive a low energy effective field theory describing a magnetized two-leg ladder with a weak staggered Dzialoshinskii-Moriya interaction. This theory predicts the persistence of the spin gap in the magnetized phase, in contrast to standard two-leg ladders, and the presence of bound states in the excitation spectrum. Such bound states are observable in Raman scattering measurements. These results are then extended to intermediate Dzialoshinskii-Moriya interaction using Exact Diagonalizations.Comment: RevTeX 4, 14 pages, 11 EPS figure

Spin Gaps in Coupled t-J Ladders

Spin gaps in coupled $t$-$J$ ladders are investigated by exact diagonalization of small clusters up to 4$\times$8 sites. At half-filling, the numerical results for the triplet excitation spectrum are in very good agreement with a second order perturbation expansion in term of small inter-ladder and intra-ladder exchange couplings between rungs ($J/J^\prime$$<$$0.25$). The band of local triplet excitations moving coherently along the ladder (with momenta close to $\pi$) is split by the inter-ladder coupling. For intermediate couplings finite size scaling is used to estimate the spin gap. In the isotropic infinite 4-chain system (two coupled ladders) we find a spin gap of $0.245 J$, roughly half of the single ladder spin gap. When the system is hole doped, bonding and anti-bonding bound pairs of holes can propagate coherently along the chains and the spin gap remains finite.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, uuencoded form of postscript files of figures and text, LPQTH-94/

Recent progress in the truncated Lanczos method : application to hole-doped spin ladders

The truncated Lanczos method using a variational scheme based on Hilbert space reduction as well as a local basis change is re-examined. The energy is extrapolated as a power law function of the Hamiltonian variance. This systematic extrapolation procedure is tested quantitatively on the two-leg t-J ladder with two holes. For this purpose, we have carried out calculations of the spin gap and of the pair dispersion up to size 2x15.Comment: 5 pages, 4 included eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B; revised versio

Doped two-leg ladder with ring exchange

The effect of a ring exchange on doped two-leg ladders is investigated combining exact diagonalization (ED) and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) computations. We focus on the nature and weights of the low energy magnetic excitations and on superconducting pairing. The stability with respect to this cyclic term of a remarkable resonant mode originating from a hole pair-magnon bound state is examined. We also find that, near the zero-doping critical point separating rung-singlet and dimerized phases, doping reopens a spin gap.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, to appear in PR

Binding of holes and pair spectral function in the t-J model

Clusters of the two-dimensionnal t--J model with 2 holes and up to 26 sites are diagonalized using a Lanczos algorithm. The behaviour of the binding energy with system size suggests the existence of a finite critical value of J above which binding occurs in the bulk. Only the d-wave pair field operator acting on the Heisenberg GS has a finite overlap with the 2 hole ground state for all the clusters considered. The related spectral function associated with the propagation of a d-wave (spin singlet) pair of holes in the antiferromagnetic background is calculated. The quasiparticle peak at the bottom of the spectrum as well as some structure appearing above the peak survive with increasing cluster size. Although no simple scaling law was found for the quasiparticle weight the data strongly suggest that this weight is finite in the bulk limit and is roughly proportional to the antiferromagnetic coupling J (for J<1).Comment: Report LPQTH-93/01, 18 pages (REVTEX), 8 postscript files include

Mixed Columnar-Plaquette Crystal of correlated fermions on the 2D pyrochlore lattice at fractional filling

We study a model of strongly correlated S=1/2 fermions on the planar pyrochlore, or checkerboard, lattice, at fractional (1/8) filling. Starting with the extended Hubbard model in the limit of strong Coulomb repulsion, low-energy configurations can be mapped onto hard-core dimer configurations whose dimers carry a spin degree of freedom. An effective Hamiltonian similar to the kinetic term of a quantum dimer model on the square lattice which rotates two parallel dimers (in a spin-singlet configuration) by 90 degrees naturally emerges. We also introduce an additional term in the Hamiltonian, a generalized dimer plaquette interaction, in order to realize a closer analogy to the latter model. For a strong dimer plaquette attraction stabilizing a columnar phase, a spontaneous dimerization takes place in the direction of the columns of (spin-carrying) dimers. Using exact diagonalizations of two-dimensional periodic clusters, the analysis of the low-energy spectrum and of several types of correlation functions gives indeed evidence for a new type of lattice symmetry breaking phase, the eight-fold degenerate Mixed Columnar-Plaquette Crystal, and for a transition from this phase to a Resonating-Singlet-Pair Crystal (found in previous studies) which restores the rotational symmetry of the lattice. Similar conclusions and phase diagram are also reached from a simple variational approach.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

Control of the finite size corrections in exact diagonalization studies

We study the possibility of controlling the finite size corrections in exact diagonalization studies quantitatively. We consider the one- and two dimensional Hubbard model. We show that the finite-size corrections can be be reduced systematically by a grand-canonical integration over boundary conditions. We find, in general, an improvement of one order of magnitude with respect to studies with periodic boundary conditions only. We present results for ground-state properties of the 2D Hubbard model and an evaluation of the specific heat for the 1D and 2D Hubbard model.Comment: Phys. Rev. B (Brief Report), in pres

Li Induced Spin and Charge Excitations in a Spin Ladder

A lithium dopant in a cuprate spin ladder acts as a vacant (non-magnetic) site accompanied by an extra hole bound by a Coulomb potential. We find that, although the undoped ladder spin gap is not essentially altered by Li doping, a dopant-magnon bound state appears within the gap. Contrary to the case of Zn-doped ladders, we predict that, in the Li-doped ladder, the spin liquid character is very robust against antiferromagnetism. We also predict the spatial dependence of the density of states in the vicinity of the dopant which could be measured by local spectroscopic probes.Comment: 4 pages, Submitted to Physical Review Letter