Thermodynamics of a Spin-1/2 Chain Coupled to Einstein Phonons

Abstract

A high order series expansion is employed to study the thermodynamical properties of a S=1/2 chain coupled to dispersionless phonons. The results are obtained without truncating the phonon subspace since the series expansion is performed formally in the overall exchange coupling J. The results are used to investigate various parameter regimes, e.g. the adiabatic and antiadiabatic limit as well as the intermediate regime which is difficult to investigate by other methods. We find that dynamic phonon effects become manifest when more than one thermodynamic quantity is analyzed.