Abstract
The qualitative difference in low-energy properties of spin S quantum antiferromagnetic chains with integer S and half-odd-integer S discovered by Haldane can be intuitively understood in terms of the valence-bond picture proposed by Affleck, Kennedy, Lieb, and Tasaki. Here we develop a similarly intuitive diagrammatic explanation of the qualitative difference between chains with odd S and even S, which is at the heart of the theory of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. More precisely, we define one-parameter families of states, which we call the asymmetric valence-bond solid (VBS) states, that continuously interpolate between the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) state and the trivial zero state in quantum spin chains with S=1 and 2. The asymmetric VBS state is obtained by systematically modifying the AKLT state. It always has exponentially decaying truncated correlation functions and is a unique gapped ground state of a short-ranged Hamiltonian. We also observe that the asymmetric VBS state possesses the time-reversal, the Z₂×Z₂, and the bond-centered inversion symmetries for S=2, but not for S=1. This is consistent with the known fact that the AKLT model belongs to the trivial SPT phase if S=2 and to a nontrivial SPT phase if S=1. Although such interpolating families of disordered states were already known, our construction is unified and is based on a simple physical picture. It also extends to spin chains with general integer S and provides us with an intuitive explanation of the essential difference between models with odd and even spins.