The local response to a uniform field around vacancies in the two-dimensional spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet is determined by numerical quantum Monte Carlo simulations as a function of temperature. It is possible to separate the Knight shifts into uniform and staggered contributions on the lattice which are analyzed and understood in detail. The contributions show interesting long- and short-range behavior that may be of relevance in NMR and susceptibility measurements. For more than one impurity, remarkable nonlinear enhancement and cancellation effects take place. We predict that the Curie impurity susceptibility will be observable for a random impurity concentration even in the thermodynamic limit.

• Received 16 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.017204