EFFECTS OF QUENCHED DISORDER ON SPIN-1/2 QUANTUM XXZ CHAINS

We analyze the zero-temperature phase diagram of the spin-1/2 quantum XXZ chain in the presence of weak disorder. The effects of various random perturbations are considered, including random fields and random exchange. For random perturbations that preserve the XY symmetry, we find a phase transition, as the anisotropy parameter is varied, from a ground state with quasi-long-range order (as in the pure system) to one in which typical correlation functions decay rapidly. The critical behavior at this transition is shown to be in the universality class of the Giamarchi-Schulz transition for one-dimensional bosons in a random potential. Random perturbations that break the XY symmetry are found always to destroy the quasi-long-range order of the ground state. Properties of the resulting random phases are also discussed.