  We report a quantum Monte Carlo study of the thermodynamic properties of
arrays of spin ladders with various widths ($n$), coupled via a weak
inter-ladder exchange coupling $\alpha J$, where $J$ is the intra-ladder
coupling both along and between the chains. This coupled ladder system serves
as a simplified model for the magnetism of presumed ordered spin and charge
stripes in the two-dimensional CuO$_2$ planes of hole-doped copper oxides. Our
results for $n=3$ with weak inter-ladder coupling $\alpha=0.05$, estimated from
the $t-t'-t''-J$ model, show good agreement with the ordering temperature of
the recently observed spin density wave condensation in La$_2$CuO$_{4+y}$. We
show that there exists a quantum critical point at $\alpha_c \simeq 0.07$ for
$n=4$, and determine the phase diagram. Our data at this quantum critical point
agree quantitatively with the universal scaling predicted by the quantum
nonlinear $\sigma$ model. We also report results on random mixtures of $n=2$
and $n=3$ ladders, which correspond to the doping region near but above 1/8.
Our study on the magnetic static structure factor reveals a saturation of the
incommensurability of the spin correlations around 1/8, while the
incommensurability of the charge stripes grows linearly with hole
concentration. The implications of this result for the interpretation of
neutron scattering experiments on the dynamic spin fluctuations in
La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ are discussed.
