On the spectrum of 1D quantum Ising quasicrystal

W. N. Yessen

Published 2011-10-31, updated 2013-04-10Version 6

We consider one dimensional quantum Ising spin-1/2 chains with two-valued nearest neighbor couplings arranged in a quasi-periodic sequence, with uniform, transverse magnetic field. By employing the Jordan-Wigner transformation of the spin operators to spinless fermions, the energy spectrum can be computed exactly on a finite lattice. By employing the transfer matrix technique and investigating the dynamics of the corresponding trace map, we show that in the thermodynamic limit the energy spectrum is a Cantor set of zero Lebesgue measure. Moreover, we show that local Hausdorff dimension is continuous and nonconstant over the spectrum. This forms a rigorous counterpart of numerous numerical studies.