Ground-State Phase Diagram of an Anisotropic S=1/2 Ladder with Different Leg Interactions

Abstract: We explore the ground-state phase diagram of the $S=1/2$ two-leg ladder with different leg interactions. The $xy$ and $z$ components of the leg interactions between nearest-neighbor spins in the $a$ ($b$) leg are respectively denoted by $J_{{\rm l},a}$ and $\Delta_{\rm l} J_{{\rm l},a}$ ($J_{{\rm l},b}$ and $\Delta_{\rm l} J_{{\rm l},b}$). On the other hand, the $xy$ and $z$ components of the uniform rung interactions are respectively denoted by $\Gamma_{\rm r} J_{{\rm r}}$ and $J_{{\rm r}}$. In the above, $\Delta_{\rm l}$ and $\Gamma_{\rm r}$ are the $XXZ$-type anisotropy parameters for the leg and rung interactions, respectively. This system has a frustration when $J_{{\rm l},a} J_{{\rm l},b}<0$ irrespective of the sign of $J_{\rm r}$. The phase diagram on the $\Delta_{\rm l}$ ($|\Delta_{\rm l}| \leq 1.0$) versus $J_{{\rm l},b}$ ($-2.0\leq J_{{\rm l},b}\leq 3.0$) plane in the case where $J_{{\rm l},a}=0.2$, $J_{{\rm r}}=-1.0$, and $\Gamma_{\rm r} = 0.5$ is determined numerically. We employ the physical consideration, and the level spectroscopy and phenomenological renormalization-group analyses of the numerical date obtained by the exact diagonalization method. The resultant phase diagram contains the ferromagnetic, Haldane, N{\'e}el, nematic Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL), partial ferrimagnetic, and $XY1$ phases. Interestingly enough, the nematic TLL phase appears in the strong-rung unfrustrated region as well as in the strong-rung frustrated one. We perform the first-order perturbational calculations from the strong rung coupling limit to elucidate the characteristic features of the phase diagram. Furthermore, we make the density-matrix renormalization-group calculations for some physical quantities such as the energy gaps, the local magnetization, and the spin correlation functions to supplement the reliability of the phase diagram.