Gauge-Free Duality in Pure Square Spin Ice: Topological Currents and Monopoles

Abstract

We consider a pure square spin ice, that is a square ice where only nearest neighbors are coupled. A gauge-free duality between the perpendicular and collinear structure leads to a natural description in terms of topological currents and charges as the relevant degrees of freedom. That, in turn, can be expressed via a continuous field theory where the discrete spins are subsumed into entropic interactions among charges and currents. This approach produces structure factors, correlations, and susceptibilities for spins, monopoles, and currents. It also generalizes to non-zero temperature the height formalism of the disordered ground state. The framework can be applied to a zoology of recent experimental results, especially realizations on quantum annealers and can be expanded to include longer range interactions.