  We present magnetic suscceptibility and heat capacity data on a new S=1/2
two-leg spin ladder compound BiCu2PO6. From our susceptibility analysis, we
find that the leg coupling J1/k_B is ~ 80 K and the ratio of the rung to leg
coupling J2/J1 ~ 0.9. We present the magnetic contribution to the heat capacity
of a two-leg ladder. The spin-gap Delta/k_B =3 4 K obtained from the heat
capacity agrees very well with that obtained from the magnetic susceptibility.
Significant inter-ladder coupling is suggested from the susceptibility
analysis. The hopping integrals determined using Nth order muffin tin orbital
(NMTO) based downfolding method lead to ratios of various exchange couplings in
agreement with our experimental data. Based on our band structure analysis, we
find the inter-ladder coupling in the bc-plane J2 to be about 0.75J1 placing
the compound presumably close to the quantum critical limit.
