Strong-coupling approach to the magnetization process of polymerized quantum spin chains
Strong-coupling approach to the magnetization process of polymerized quantum spin chains
Polymerized quantum spin chains (i.e., spin chains with a periodic modulation of the coupling constants) exhibit plateaus in their magnetization curves when subjected to homogeneous external magnetic fields. We argue that the strong-coupling limit yields a simple but general explanation for the appearance of plateaus as well as of the …