SU(4) spin-orbit critical state in one dimension

Abstract

Effect of quantum fluctuations concerned with the orbital degrees of freedom is discussed for the model with SU(4) symmetry in one dimension. An effective Hamiltonian is derived from the orbitally degenerate Hubbard model at quarter filling. This model is equivalent to the Bethe soluble SU(4) exchange model. Quantum numbers of the ground state and the lowest branch of excitations are determined. The spin-spin correlation functions are obtained numerically by the density matrix renormalization group method. It shows a power-law decay with oscillations of the period of four sites. The period originates from the interference between the spin and orbital degrees of freedom. The exponent of the power-law decay estimated from the finite size data is consistent with the prediction by the conformal field theory.