Two-hole dynamics in spin ladders

Abstract

We present an analytic theory for the energy spectrum of a two-leg spin ladder doped with two holes. Starting from a pseudo-fermion-bond-boson representation of the corresponding $t_{1,2}-J_{1,2}$ Hamiltonian we apply a diagrammatic approach adapted to the limit of strong rung coupling, which includes both, the coupling of holes to the spin background as well as the two-hole interactions. The two-hole spectrum is calculated and the formation of bound states is discussed. Additionally the evolution of the spin gap of the ladder upon doping is analyzed. A comparison with existing exact diagonalization data is presented and good agreement is found.