arXiv subjects

Roderich Moessner

Publications and source records attributed to Roderich Moessner.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Supercooling and fragile glassiness in a dipolar kagome Ising magnet

We study equilibration and ordering in the classical dipolar kagome Ising antiferromagnet, which we show behaves as a disorder-free fragile spin glass. By identifying an appropriate order parameter, we demonstrate a transition to the ordered state proposed by Chioar et al. [Phys. Rev. B 93, 214410 (2016)] with a 12-site unit cell that breaks time-reversal and sublattice symmetries, and further provide evidence that the nature of the transition is first order. Upon approaching the transition, the spin dynamics slow dramatically. The system readily falls out of equilibrium, overshooting the transition and entering a supercooled liquid regime. Using extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the system exhibits super-Arrhenius behaviour above the ordering transition. The relaxation time diverges according to a Vogel-Fulcher form at a finite `glass transition' temperature in the supercooled regime. Such behaviour, characteristic of fragile glasses, is particularly remarkable as the model is free of quenched disorder, does not straightforwardly conform to the avoided criticality paradigm, and is simple and eminently realisable in engineered nanomagnetic arrays.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Magnon interactions in the frustrated pyrochlore ferromagnet Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$

The frustrated rare-earth pyrochlore Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ is remarkable among magnetic materials: despite a ferromagnetically ordered ground state it exhibits a broad, nearly gapless, continuum of excitations. This broad continuum connects smoothly to the sharp one-magnon excitations expected, and indeed observed, at high magnetic fields, raising the question: how does this picture of sharp magnons break down as the field is lowered? In this paper, we consider the effects of magnon interactions in Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$, showing that their inclusion greatly extends the reach of spin-wave theory. First, we show that magnon interactions shift the phase boundary between the (splayed) ferromagnet (SFM) and the antiferromagnetic $Γ_5$ phase so that Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ lies very close to it. Next, we show how the high-field limit connects to lower fields; this includes corrections to the critical fields for the $[111]$ and $[1\bar{1}0]$ directions, bringing them closer to the observed experimental values, as well as accounting for the departures from linear spin wave theory that appear in $[001]$ applied fields below 3 T [Thompson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 057203 (2017)]. Turning to low-fields, though the extent of the experimentally observed broadening is not quite reproduced, we find a rough correspondence between non-linear spin-wave theory and inelastic neutron scattering data on both a single-crystal sample, as well as on a powder sample [Peçanha-Antonio et al., Phys. Rev. B, 96, 214415 (2017)]. We conclude with an outlook on implications for future experimental and theoretical work on Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and related materials, highlighting the importance of proximity to the splayed ferromagnet-$Γ_5$ phase boundary and its potential role in intrinsic or extrinsic explanations of the low-field physics of Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Rod motifs in neutron scattering in spin ice

In classical and quantum spin ice, rod-like features appear in the neutron scattering structure factor when the pinchpoints characteristic of classical spin ice get washed out. We show that these features do not indicate the absence of spin correlations between planes perpendicular to the rods. Rather, they arise because unpolarised neutron scattering is largely insensitive to the three-dimensional correlations which are present throughout. We present two very simple models which exhibit a pristine incarnation of such scattering rods. This provides a physical picture for their appearance, elucidates the role played by monopole excitations and identifies conditions conducive to their observation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Polarization Plateaus in Hexagonal Water Ice $I_h$

The protons in water ice are subject to so called \emph{ice rules} resulting in an extensive ground state degeneracy. We study how an external electric field reduces this ground state degeneracy in hexagonal water ice I$_h$ within a minimal model. We observe polarization plateaus when the field is aligned along the $[001]$ and $[010]$ directions. In each case, one plateau occurs at intermediate polarization with reduced but still extensive degeneracy. The remaining ground states can be mapped to dimer models on the honeycomb and the square lattice, respectively. Upon tilting the external field, we observe an order-disorder transition of Kasteleyn type into a plateau at saturated polarization and vanishing entropy. This transition is investigated analytically using the Kasteleyn matrix and numerically using a modified directed-loop Monte Carlo simulation. The protons in both cases exhibit algebraically decaying correlations. Moreover, the features of the static structure factor are discussed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Dynamics and energy landscape of the jammed spin-liquid

We study the low temperature static and dynamical properties of the classical bond-disordered antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice. This model has recently been shown to host a new type of spin liquid exhibiting an exponentially large number of discrete ground states. Surprisingly, despite the rigidity of the groundstates, we establish the vanishing of the corresponding spin stiffness. Locally, the low-lying eigenvectors of the Hessian appear to exhibit a fractal inverse participation ratio. Its spin dynamics resembles that of Coulomb Heisenberg spin liquids, but exhibits a new low-temperature dynamically arrested regime, which however gets squeezed out with increasing system size. We also probe the properties of the energy landscape underpinning this behaviour, and find energy barriers between distinct ground states vanishing with system size. In turn the local minima appear highly connected and the system tends to lose memory of its inital state in an accumulation of soft directions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Bond disordered spin liquid and the honeycomb iridate H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$ $-$ abundant low energy density of states from random Majorana hopping

The 5d-electron honeycomb compound H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_3$ [K. Kitagawa $et$ $al.$, Nature 554, 341-345 (2018)] exhibits an apparent quantum spin liquid (QSL) state. In this intercalated spin-orbital compound, a remarkable pile up of low-energy states was experimentally observed in specific heat and nuclear magnetic (NMR) spin relaxation. We show that a bond disordered Kitaev model can naturally account for this phenomenon, suggesting that disorder plays an essential role in its theoretical description. In the exactly soluble Kitaev model, we obtain, via spin fractionalization, a random bipartite hopping problem of Majorana fermions in a random flux background. This has a divergent low-energy density of states (DOS) of the required power-law form $N(E)\propto E^{-ν}$ with a drifting exponent which takes on the value $ν\approx 1/2$ for relatively strong bond disorder. Breaking time reversal symmetry (TRS) removes the divergence of the DOS, as does applying a magnetic field in experiment. We discuss the implication of our scenario for future experiments and its broader implications.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Dynamical and Topological Properties of the Kitaev Model in a [111] Magnetic Field

The Kitaev model exhibits a Quantum Spin Liquid hosting emergent fractionalized excitations. We study the Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice coupled to a magnetic field along the [111] axis. Utilizing large scale matrix product based numerical models, we confirm three phases with transitions at different field strengths depending on the sign of the Kitaev exchange: a non-abelian topological phase at low fields, an enigmatic intermediate regime only present for antiferromagnetic Kitaev exchange, and a field-polarized phase. For the topological phase, we numerically observe the expected cubic scaling of the gap and extract the quantum dimension of the non-Abelian anyons. Furthermore, we investigate dynamical signatures of the topological and the field-polarized phase using a matrix product operator based time evolution method.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Nonequilibrium selection of magnetic order in driven triangular XY antiferromagnet

We show that a weak periodic drive removes the accidental degeneracy in the ground state of the XY antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice in a uniform static magnetic field. The underlying mechanism involves adding a small periodically modulated component to the magnetic field, which influences finite-frequency modes to generate an effective potential for the accidental pseudo-Goldstone mode. This selection can be arranged to compete with the degeneracy lifting via the thermal order by disorder mechanism. This yields a non-equilibrium phase transition as the relative strength of the two mechanisms is tuned by varying temperature. This proposal may be amenable to experimental realization, in particular as applying the field is noninvasive, and no complex bath engineering is required.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Disordered flat bands on the kagome lattice

We study two models of correlated bond- and site-disorder on the kagome lattice considering both translationally invariant and completely disordered systems. The models are shown to exhibit a perfectly flat ground state band in the presence of disorder for which we provide exact analytic solutions. Whereas in one model the flat band remains gapped and touches the dispersive band, the other model has a finite gap, demonstrating that the band touching is not protected by topology alone. Our model also displays fully saturated ferromagnetic groundstates in the presence of repulsive interactions, an example of disordered flat band ferromagnetism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Pseudo-Goldstone gaps and order-by-quantum-disorder in frustrated magnets

In systems with competing interactions, continuous degeneracies can appear which are accidental, in that they are not related to any symmetry of the Hamiltonian. Accordingly, the pseudo-Goldstone modes associated with these degeneracies are also unprotected. Indeed, through a process known as "order-by-quantum-disorder", quantum zero-point fluctuations can lift the degeneracy and induce a gap for these modes. We show that this gap can be exactly computed at leading order in $1/S$ in spin-wave theory from the mean curvature of the classical and quantum zero-point energies - without the need to consider any spin-wave interactions. We confirm this equivalence through direct calculations of the spin-wave spectrum to $O(1/S^2)$ in a wide variety of theoretically and experimentally relevant quantum spin models. We prove this equivalence through the use of an exact sum rule that provides the required mixing of different orders of $1/S$. Finally, we discuss some implications for several leading order-by-quantum-disorder candidate materials, clarifying the expected pseudo-Goldstone gap sizes in Er$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and Ca$_3$Fe$_2$Ge$_3$O$_{12}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Spin Hall effect in 2D metallic delafossite PtCoO$_2$ and vicinity topology

The two-dimensional (2D) metal PtCoO$_2$ is renowned for the lowest room temperature resistivity among all oxides, close to that of the top two materials Ag and Cu. In addition, we theoretically predict a strong intrinsic spin Hall effect. This originates from six strongly-tilted Dirac cones that we find in the electronic structure near the Fermi surface, where a gap is opened by large spin-orbit coupling (SOC). This is underpinned by rich topological properties; in particular, the phenomenology of a mirror Chern metal is realized not exactly, but very accurately, on account of an approximate crystalline symmetry. We expect that such 'vicinity topology' to be a feature of relevance well beyond this material. Our Wilson loop analysis indicates further elaborate features such as fragile topology. These findings highlight PtCoO$_2$ as a promising material for spintronic applications as well as a platform to study the interplay of symmetry and topology.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Magnetic clustering, half-moons, and shadow pinch points as signals of a proximate Coulomb phase in frustrated Heisenberg magnets

We study the formation of magnetic clusters in frustrated magnets in their cooperative paramagnetic regime. For this purpose, we consider the $J_1$-$J_2$-$J_3$ classical Heisenberg model on kagome and pyrochlore lattices with $J_2 = J_3=J$. In the absence of farther-neighbor couplings, $J=0$, the system is in the Coulomb phase with magnetic correlations well characterized by pinch-point singularities. Farther-neighbor couplings lead to the formation of magnetic clusters, which can be interpreted as a counterpart of topological-charge clusters in Ising frustrated magnets [T. Mizoguchi, L. D. C. Jaubert and M. Udagawa, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 119}, 077207 (2017)]. The concomitant static and dynamical magnetic structure factors, respectively $\mathcal{S}({\bm{q}})$ and $\mathcal{S}({\bm{q}},ω)$, develop half-moon patterns. As $J$ increases, the continuous nature of the Heisenberg spins enables the half-moons to coalesce into connected `star' structures spreading across multiple Brillouin zones. These characteristic patterns are a dispersive complement of the pinch point singularities, and signal the proximity to a Coulomb phase. Shadows of the pinch points remain visible at finite energy, $ω$. This opens the way to observe these clusters through (in)elastic neutron scattering experiments. The origin of these features are clarified by complementary methods: large-$N$ calculations, semi-classical dynamics of the Landau-Lifshitz equation, and Monte Carlo simulations. As promising candidates to observe the clustering states, we revisit the origin of "spin molecules" observed in a family of spinel oxides $AB_2$O$_4$ ($A=$ Zn, Hg, Mg, $B=$ Cr, Fe).

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Spectrum of itinerant fractional excitations in quantum spin ice

We study the quantum dynamics of fractional excitations in quantum spin ice. We focus on the density of states in the two-monopole sector, $ρ(ω)$, as this can be connected to the wavevector-integrated dynamical structure factor accessible in neutron scattering experiments. We find that $ρ(ω)$ exhibits a strikingly characteristic singular and asymmetric structure which provides a useful fingerprint for comparison to experiment. $ρ(ω)$ obtained from exact diagonalisation of a finite cluster agrees well with that from the analytical solution of a hopping problem on a Husimi cactus representing configuration space, but not with the corresponding result on a face-centred cubic lattice, on which the monopoles move in real space. The main difference between the latter two lies in the inclusion of the emergent gauge field degrees of freedom under which the monopoles are charged. This underlines the importance of treating both sets of degrees of freedom together, and presents a novel instance of dimensional transmutation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Dynamical structure factor of the three-dimensional quantum spin liquid candidate NaCaNi$_2$F$_7$

We study the spin-1 pyrochlore material NaCaNi$_2$F$_7$ with a combination of molecular dynamics simulations, stochastic dynamical theory and linear spin wave theory. The dynamical structure factor from inelastic neutron scattering is well described with a near-ideal Heisenberg Hamiltonian incorporating small anisotropic terms {and weak second-neighbor interactions}. We find that all three approaches reproduce remarkably well the momentum dependence of the scattering intensity as well as its energy dependence with the exception of the lowest energies. These results are notable in that (i) the data show a complete lack of sharp quasiparticle excitations in momentum space over much, if not all, of the energy range; (ii) linear spin-wave theory appears to apply in a regime where it would be expected to fail for a number of reasons. We elucidate what underpins these surprises, and note that basic questions about the nature of quantum spin liquidity in such systems pose themselves as a result.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Strong quantum interactions prevent quasiparticle decay

Quantum states of matter---such as solids, magnets and topological phases---typically exhibit collective excitations---phonons, magnons, anyons. These involve the motion of many particles in the system, yet, remarkably, act like a single emergent entity---a quasiparticle. Known to be long-lived at the lowest energies, common wisdom says that quasiparticles become unstable when they encounter the inevitable continuum of many-particle excited states at high energies. Whilst correct for weak interactions, we show that this is far from the whole story: strong interactions generically stabilise quasiparticles by pushing them out of the continuum. This general mechanism is straightforwardly illustrated in an exactly solvable model. Using state-of-the-art numerics, we find it at work also in the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ triangular lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet (TLHAF) near the isotropic point---this is surprising given the common expectation of magnon decay in this paradigmatic frustrated magnet. Turning to existing experimental data, we identify the detailed phenomenology of avoided decay in the TLHAF material Ba$_3$CoSb$_2$O$_9$, and even in liquid helium---one of the earliest instances of quasiparticle decay. Our work unifies various phenomena above the universal low-energy regime in a comprehensive description. This broadens our window of understanding of many-body excitations, and provides a new perspective for controlling and stabilising quantum matter in the strongly-interacting regime.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Quantum Dynamics of the Square-Lattice Heisenberg Model

Despite nearly a century of study of the $S=1/2$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice, there is still disagreement on the nature of its high-energy excitations. By tuning toward the Heisenberg model from the exactly soluble Ising limit, we find that the strongly attractive magnon interactions of the latter naturally account for a number of spectral features of the Heisenberg model. This claim is backed up both numerically and analytically. Using the density matrix renormalization group method, we obtain the dynamical structure factor for a cylindrical geometry, allowing us to continuously connect both limits. Remarkably, a semi-quantitative description of certain observed features arises already at the lowest non-trivial order in perturbation theory around the Ising limit. Moreover, our analysis uncovers that high-energy magnons are localized on a single sublattice, which is related to the entanglement properties of the ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Dynamics of a Lattice Gauge Theory with Fermionic Matter -- Minimal Quantum Simulator with Time-Dependent Impurities in Ultracold Gases

We propose a minimal model to study the real-time dynamics of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory coupled to fermionic matter in a cold atom quantum simulator setup. We show that dynamical correlators of the gauge fields can be measured in experiments studying the time-evolution of two pairs of impurities, and suggest the protocol for implementing the model in cold atom experiments. Further, we discuss a number of unexpected features found in the integrable limit of the model, as well as its extensions to a non-integrable case. A potential experimental implementation of our model in the latter regime would allow one to simulate strongly-interacting lattice gauge theories beyond current capabilities of classical computers.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Temperature dependence of butterfly effect in a classical many-body system

We study the chaotic dynamics in a classical many-body system of interacting spins on the kagome lattice. We characterise many-body chaos via the butterfly effect as captured by an appropriate out-of-time-ordered correlator. Due to the emergence of a spin liquid phase, the chaotic dynamics extends all the way to zero temperature. We thus determine the full temperature dependence of two complementary aspects of the butterfly effect: the Lyapunov exponent, $μ$, and the butterfly speed, $v_b$, and study their interrelations with usual measures of spin dynamics such as the spin-diffusion constant, $D$ and spin-autocorrelation time, $τ$. We find that they all exhibit power law behaviour at low temperature, consistent with scaling of the form $D\sim v_b^2/μ$ and $τ^{-1}\sim T$. The vanishing of $μ\sim T^{0.48}$ is parametrically slower than that of the corresponding quantum bound, $μ\sim T$, raising interesting questions regarding the semi-classical limit of such spin systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗