Checkerboard patterns in the t-J model -: art. no. 220506

Using the density-matrix renormalization group, we study the possibility of real-space checkerboard patterns arising as the ground states of the t-J model. We find that checkerboards with a commensurate (pi,pi) background are not low-energy states and can only be stabilized with large external potentials. However, we find that striped states with charge-density waves (CDWs) along the stripes can form approximate checkerboard patterns. These states can be stabilized with a very weak external field aligning and pinning the CDWs on different stripes.