An Efficient Monte Carlo Approach to Low-Lying Excitations of Quantum Spin Chains

We give a full description of a recently developed efficient Monte Carlo Approach to low-lying excitations of one-dimensional quantum spin systems. The idea is in a word expressed as extracting the lower edge of the excitation spectrum from imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data at a sufficiently low temperature. First, the method is applied to the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains ofS=1/2, 1, 3/2, and 2. In the cases ofS=1/2andS=1, comparing the present results with the previous findings, we discuss the reliability of the method. The spectra forS=3/2andS=2turn out to be massless and massive, respectively. In order to demonstrate that our method is very good at treating long chains, we calculate theS=2chain with length up to 512 spins and give a precise estimate of the Haldane gap. Second, we show its fruitful use in studying quantum critical phenomena of bond-alternating spin chains. Using the conformal invariance of the system as well, we calculate the central charge of the criticalS=1chain, which results in the Gaussian universality class. Third, we study an alternating-spin system composed of two kinds of spinsS=1and 1/2, which shows the ferrimagnetic behavior. We find a quadratic dispersion relation in the small-momentum region. The numerical findings are qualitatively explained well in terms of the spin-wave theory. Finally, we argue a possibility of applying the method to the higher excitations, where we again deal with theS=1Heisenberg antiferromagnet and inquire further into its unique low-energy structure. All the applications demonstrate the wide applicability of the method and its own advantages.