Gapless to gapless phase transitions in quantum spin chains
Abstract
We investigate spin chains with bilinear-biquadratic (BLBQ) spin interactions as a function of an applied magnetic field h. At the Uimin-Lai-Sutherland (ULS) critical point we find a gapless to gapless transition revealed by the dynamical structure factor S(q,ω) as a function of h. At h=0, the envelope of the lowest energy excitations goes soft at two points q1=2π/3 and q2=4π/3, dubbed the phase A. With increasing field, the spectral peaks at each of the gapless points bifurcate, making in total four soft modes, and combine to form a new set of excitations that soften at a single point q=π at hc1≈ 0.94. Beyond hc1 the system enters another gapless B-phase until the transition at hc2=4 to the fully polarized phase. We compare the ULS model results with those for the AKLT model as a representative of gapped Haldane phase. We explain the mechanism of the gapless to gapless transition in the ULS model using its conserved charges and a spinon band picture. We also discuss the universality of central charges of the BLBQ family of models subjected to a magnetic field.