Charge ordering and opening of spin gap in NaV2O5

We argue that the origin of the phase transition in quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet NaV2O5 is not the spin-Peierls (SP) instability, but a charge ordering. The opening of the spin gap and the lattice dimerization, characteristic for the spin-Peierls systems, in NaV2O5 result from the interplay between the charge, lattice, and spin degrees of freedom.