Quantum Phase Transitions around the Staggered Valence Bond Solid

Motivated by recent numerical results, we study the quantum phase transitions between Z_2 spin liquid, Neel ordered, and various valence bond solid (VBS) states on the honeycomb and square lattices, with emphasis on the staggered VBS. In contrast to the well-understood columnar VBS order, the staggered VBS is not described by an XY order parameter with Z_N anisotropy close to these quantum phase transitions. Instead, we demonstrate that on the honeycomb lattice, the staggered VBS is more appropriately described as an O(3) or CP(2) order parameter with cubic anisotropy, while on the square lattice it is described by an O(4) or CP(3) order parameter.