Abstract
Phonon-assisted two-magnon absorption is studied in the spin- two-leg ladders of for (legs) and (rungs). We verify the theoretically predicted existence of two-magnon singlet bound states, which give rise to peaks at and . The two-magnon continuum is observed at . Two different theoretical approaches (Jordan-Wigner fermions and perturbation theory) describe the data very well for , . At high energies, the magnetic contribution to is strikingly similar in the ladders and in the undoped high- cuprates, which emphasizes the importance of strong quantum fluctuations in the latter.
- Received 21 March 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.127002
©2001 American Physical Society