Low-energy properties and magnetization plateaus in a two-leg mixed spin ladder

Using the density-matrix renormalization-group technique we investigate the low-energy properties and the magnetization-plateau behavior in a two-leg mixed spin ladder consisting of a spin-1/2 chain coupled with a spin-1 chain. The calculated results show that the system is in the same universality class as the spin-3/2 chain when the interchain coupling is strongly ferromagnetic, but the similarity between the two systems is less clear under other coupling conditions. We have identified two types of magnetization-plateau phases. The calculation of the magnetization distribution on the spin-1/2 and the spin-1 chains on the ladder shows that one plateau phase is related to the partially magnetized valence-bond-solid state, and the other plateau state contains strongly coupled S=1 and s=1/2 spins on the rung.