Universal diffusive decay of correlations in gapped one-dimensional systems

Abstract

We apply a semiclassical approach to express finite temperature dynamical correlation functions of gapped spin models analytically. We show that the approach of [A. Rapp, G. Zarand, Phys. Rev. B 74, 014433 (2006)] can also be used for the S=1 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain, whose lineshape can be measured experimentally. We generalize our calculations to O(N) quantum spin models and the sine-Gordon model in one dimension, and show that in all these models, the finite temperature decay of certain correlation functions is characterized by the same universal semiclassical relaxation function.

7 pages, 5 figures, final version appeared in Eur. Phys. J. B 67, 7-13 (2009)