Luttinger liquid behavior in spin chains with a magnetic field

Abstract

Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chains in a sufficiently strong magnetic field are Luttinger liquids, whose parameters depend on the actual magnetization of the chain. Here we present precise numerical estimates of the Luttinger liquid dressed charge Z, which determines the critical exponents, by calculating the magnetization and quadrupole operator profiles for $S=1/2$ and $S=1$ chains using the density matrix renormalization group method. Critical amplitudes and the scattering length at the chain ends are also determined. Although both systems are Luttinger liquids the characteristic parameters differ considerably.