Spin-1/2 string correlations and singlet-triplet gaps of frustrated ladders with ferromagnetic (F) legs and alternate F and AF rungs

Abstract

The frustrated ladder with alternate ferromagnetic(F) exchange $-J_F$ and AF exchange $J_A$ to first neighbors and F exchange $-J_L$ to second neighbors is studied by exact diagonalization (ED) and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations in systems of $2N$ spins-1/2 with periodic boundary conditions. The ground state is a singlet $(S = 0)$ and the singlet-triplet gap $\varepsilon_T$ is finite for the exchanges considered. Spin-1/2 string correlation functions $g_1(N)$ and $g_2(N)$ are defined for an even number $N$ of consecutive spins in systems with two spins per unit cell; the ladder has string order $g_2(\infty)> 0$ and $g_1(\infty) = 0$. The minimum $N^*$ of $g_2(N)$ is related to the range of ground-state spin correlations. Convergence to $g_2(\infty)$ is from below, and $g_1(N)$ decreases exponentially for $N \geq N^*$. Singlet valence bond (VB) diagrams account for the size dependencies. The frustrated ladder at special values of $J_F$, $J_L$ and $J_A$ reduces to well-known models such as the spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet and the $J_1-J_2$ model, among others. Numerical analysis of ladders matches previous results for spin-1 gaps or string correlation functions and extends them to spin-1/2 systems. The nondegenerate singlet ground state of ladder is a bond-order wave, a Kekul\'e VB diagrams at $J_L = J_F/2 \leq J_A$, that is reversed on interchanging $-J_F$ and $J_A$. Inversion symmetry is spontaneously broken in the dimer phase of the $J_1-J_2$ model where the Kekul\'e diagrams are the doubly degenerate ground states at $J_2/J_1 = 1/2$.