Magnetic excitation spectra of strongly correlated quasi-one dimensional systems: Heisenberg versus Hubbard-like behavior

We study the effects of charge degrees of freedom on the spin excitation dynamics in quasi-one dimensional magnetic materials. Using the density matrix renormalization group method, we calculate the dynamical spin structure factor of the Hubbard model at half electronic filling on a chain and on a ladder geometry, and compare the results with those obtained using the Heisenberg model, where charge degrees of freedom are considered frozen. For both chains and two-leg ladders, we find that the Hubbard model spectrum qualitatively resembles the Heisenberg spectrum -- with low-energy peaks resembling spinonic excitations -- already at intermediate on-site repulsion as small as $U/t \sim 2-3$, although ratios of peak intensities at different momenta continue evolving with increasing $U/t$ converging only slowly to the Heisenberg limit. We discuss the implications of these results for neutron scattering experiments and we propose criteria to establish the values of $U/t$ of quasi-one dimensional systems described by one-orbital Hubbard models from experimental information.