Critical properties of the double-frequency sine-Gordon model with applications

We study the properties of the double-frequency sine-Gordon model in the vicinity of the Ising quantum phase transition displayed by this model. Using a mapping onto a generalized lattice quantum Ashkin-Teller model, we obtain critical and nearly-off-critical correlation functions of various operators. We discuss applications of the double-sine-Gordon model to one-dimensional physical systems, like spin chains in a staggered external field and interacting electrons in a staggered potential. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.