No Arabic abstract
We present a mixed spin-(1/2, 5/2) chain composed of a charge-transfer salt (4-Br-$o$-MePy-V)FeCl$_4$. We observe the entire magnetization curve up to saturation, which exhibits a clear Lieb-Mattis magnetization plateau and subsequent quantum phase transition towards the gapless Luttinger-liquid phase. The observed magnetic behavior is quantitatively explained by a mixed spin-(1/2, 5/2) chain model. The present results demonstrate a quantum many-body effect based on quantum topology and provide a new stage in the search for topological properties in condensed matter physics.
The Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem states that a spin system with translation and spin rotation symmetry and half-integer spin per unit cell does not admit a gapped symmetric ground state lacking fractionalized excitations. That is, the ground state must be gapless, spontaneously break a symmetry, or be a gapped spin liquid. Thus, such systems are natural spin-liquid candidates if no ordering is found. In this work, we give a much more general criterion that determines when an LSM-type theorem holds in a spin system. For example, we consider quantum magnets with arbitrary space group symmetry and/or spin-orbit coupling. Our criterion is intimately connected to recent work on the general classification of topological phases with spatial symmetries and also allows for the computation of an anomaly associated with the existence of an LSM theorem. Moreover, our framework is also general enough to encompass recent works on SPT-LSM theorems where the system admits a gapped symmetric ground state without fractionalized excitations, but such a ground state must still be non-trivial in the sense of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases.
We study quantum phases and phase transitions in a one-dimensional interacting fermion system with a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) type anomaly. Specifically, the inversion symmetry enforces any symmetry-preserving gapped ground state of the system to be a Kitaev chain, following a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis type theorem that we prove. Alternatively, via the Jordan-Wigner transformation, this system describes a spin system whose gapped ground states must break either the inversion or the Ising symmetry associated with fermion parity. We obtain a phase diagram using analytical methods and variational matrix product state simulations, and study the critical behaviors of the quantum phase transitions therein using entanglement entropy, energy variance and finite size scaling of order parameters. In particular, we observe continuous phase transitions between different ordered phases that are beyond the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson paradigm, in analogy to the deconfined quantum critical points in two spatial dimensions. We show this type of 1D deconfined quantum critical point is described by the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory, and extract the Luttinger parameter and critical exponents. We also identify a gapless phase between two ordered phases, which cannot be described by a U(1) Luttinger liquid.
The ground-state ordering and dynamics of the two-dimensional (2D) S=1/2 frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cs_2CuCl_4 is explored using neutron scattering in high magnetic fields. We find that the dynamic correlations show a highly dispersive continuum of excited states, characteristic of the RVB state, arising from pairs of S=1/2 spinons. Quantum renormalization factors for the excitation energies (1.65) and incommensuration (0.56) are large.
It is well established that long-range magnetic order is suppressed in magnetic systems whose interactions are low-dimensional. The prototypical example is the S-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain (S-1/2 HAFC) whose ground state is quantum critical. In real S-1/2 HAFC compounds interchain coupling induces long-range magnetic order although with a suppressed ordered moment and reduced Neel temperature compared to the Curie-Weiss temperature. Recently, it was suggested that order can also be suppressed if the interchain interactions are frustrated, as for the Nersesyan-Tsvelik model. Here, we study the new S-1/2 HAFC, (NO)[Cu(NO3)3]. This material shows extreme suppression of order which furthermore is incommensurate revealing the presence of frustration consistent with the Nersesyan-Tsvelik model.
We build and probe a $mathbb{Z}_2$ spin liquid in a programmable quantum device, the D-Wave DW-2000Q. Specifically, we observe the classical 8-vertex and 6-vertex (spin ice) states and transitions between them. To realize this state of matter, we design a Hamiltonian with combinatorial gauge symmetry using only pairwise-qubit interactions and a transverse field, i.e., interactions which are accessible in this quantum device. The combinatorial gauge symmetry remains exact along the full quantum annealing path, landing the system onto the classical 8-vertex model at the endpoint of the path. The output configurations from the device allows us to directly observe the loop structure of the classical model. Moreover, we deform the Hamiltonian so as to vary the weights of the 8 vertices and show that we can selectively attain the classical 6-vertex (ice) model, or drive the system into a ferromagnetic state. We present studies of the classical phase diagram of the system as function of the 8-vertex deformations and effective temperature, which we control by varying the relative strengths of the programmable couplings, and we show that the experimental results are consistent with theoretical analysis. Finally, we identify additional capabilities that, if added to these devices, would allow us to realize $mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquids on which to build topological qubits.