Fractional and integer excitations in quantum antiferromagnetic spin 1/2 ladders

Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Oct 15;87(16):167204. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.167204. Epub 2001 Oct 1.

Abstract

Spectral densities are computed in unprecedented detail for quantum antiferromagnetic spin 1/2 two-leg ladders. These results were obtained due to a major methodical advance achieved by optimally chosen unitary transformations. The approach is based on dressed integer excitations. Considerable weight is found at high energies in the two-particle sector. Precursors of fractional spinon physics occur supporting the conclusion that there is no necessity to resort to fractional excitations in order to describe features at higher energies.