Spin excitation spectra of the two dimensional $S=1/2$ Heisenberg model with a checkerboard structure

Abstract

We study the spin excitation spectra of the two-dimensional spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg model with a checkerboard structures using stochastic analytic continuation of the imaginary-time correlation function obtained from a quantum Monte Carlo simulation. The checkerboard models have two different antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interactions $J_1$ and $J_2$, and the tuning parameter $g$ is defined as $J_2/J_1$. The dynamic spin structure factors are systematically calculated in all phases of the models as well as at the critical points. To give a full understanding of the dynamic spectra, spin wave theory is employed to explain some features of numerical results, especially for the low-energy part. When $g$ is close to $1$, the features of the spin excitation spectra of each checkerboard model are roughly the same as those of the original square lattice antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, and the high-energy continuum among them is discussed. In contrast to the other checkerboard structures investigated in this paper, the $3\times 3$ checkerboard model has distinctive excitation features, such as a gap between a low-energy gapless branch and a gapped high-energy part that exists when $g$ is small. The gapless branch in this case can be regarded as a spin wave in N$\acute{\mathrm{e}}$el order formed by a "block spin" in each $3\times 3$ plaquette with an effective exchange interaction originating from renormalization. One unexpected finding is that the continuum also appears in this low-energy branch.

13 pages, 12 figures