Haldane Gap in the Spin-1/2Double Chain Anisotropic Heisenberg Antiferromagnet

Abstract

The double chain Heisenberg antiferromagnet with anisotropy is studied using the mapping onto the coupled anisotropic nonlinear σ model. This model consists of two anisotropic antiferromagnetic quantum Heisenberg chains with half-integer spin coupled with each other via the ferromagnetic interchain coupling J '. For small J ', our analysis suggests that J ' is an irrelevant parameter and consequently the two chains behave independently and no gap is generated. On the other hand, for large enough J ', the two chains behave as a single Heisenberg chain with integer spin which has a gap in the excitation spectrum. The expected behavior in the isotropic limit is also discussed.