Abstract
Two-leg t-J ladders are investigated in the framework of a combination of the phase string formulation and bond-operator representation. We develop a mean-field theory in the strong rung interaction regime, i.e., J ⊥ ≫J,t, which provides a unified description of the undoped insulating phase and the low-doping phase - the so-called C1S0 phase. Both of them are characterized by the resonating-valence-bond (RVB) order parameter, with gap opened up in all spin excitations. The ground state of the doped phase is intrinsically a superconductor with a d-wave symmetry, which is driven by the RVB correlations. The ground-state energy is in good agreement with numerical results. Phase separation is shown to occur beyond some critical value of J/t for given doping concentration. The local structure of hole pairs as well as the spectra of various spin and charge modes are analyzed in comparison with other approaches. ©1999 The American Physical Society.