Dimerization and incommensurate spiral spin correlations in the zigzag spin chain: Analogies to the Kondo lattice

Abstract

Using the density matrix renormalization group and a bosonization approach, we study a spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with near-neighbor coupling ${\mathit{J}}_{1}$ and frustrating second-neighbor coupling ${\mathit{J}}_{2}$, particularly in the limit ${\mathit{J}}_{2}$\ensuremath{\gg}${\mathit{J}}_{1}$. This system exhibits both dimerization and incommensurate spiral spin correlations. We argue that this system is closely related to a doped, spin-gapped phase of the one-dimensional Kondo lattice. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.