Dimerization and incommensurate spiral spin correlations in the zigzag spin chain: Analogies to the Kondo lattice

Using the density matrix renormalization group and a bosonization approach, we study a spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with near-neighbor coupling ${\mathit{J}}_1$ and frustrating second-neighbor coupling ${\mathit{J}}_2$, particularly in the limit ${\mathit{J}}_2$≫${\mathit{J}}_1$. This system exhibits both dimerization and incommensurate spiral spin correlations. We argue that this system is closely related to a doped, spin-gapped phase of the one-dimensional Kondo lattice. © 1996 The American Physical Society.