Duality and domain wall dynamics in a twisted Kitaev chain

The Ising chain in transverse field is a paradigmatic model for a host of physical phenomena, including spontaneous symmetry breaking, topological defects, quantum criticality, and duality. Although the quasi-1D ferromagnet CoNb$_2$O$_6$ has been putforward as the best material example of the transverse field Ising model, it exhibits significant deviations from ideality. Through a combination of THz spectroscopy and theory, we show that CoNb$_2$O$_6$ in fact is well described by a different model with strong bond dependent interactions, which we dub the {it twisted Kitaev chain}, as these interactions share a close resemblance to a one-dimensional version of the intensely studied honeycomb Kitaev model. In this model the ferromagnetic ground state of CoNb$_2$O$_6$ arises from the compromise between two distinct alternating axes rather than a single easy axis. Due to this frustration, even at zero applied field domain-wall excitations have quantum motion that is described by the celebrated Su-Schriefer-Heeger model of polyacetylene. This leads to rich behavior as a function of field. Despite the anomalous domain wall dynamics, close to a critical transverse field the twisted Kitaev chain enters a universal regime in the Ising universality class. This is reflected by the observation that the excitation gap in CoNb$_2$O$_6$ in the ferromagnetic regime closes at a rate precisely twice that of the paramagnet. This originates in the duality between domain walls and spin-flips and the topological conservation of domain wall parity. We measure this universal ratio `2 to high accuracy -- the first direct evidence for the Kramers-Wannier duality in nature.

First-order Neel-cVBS transition in a model square lattice $S=1$ antiferromagnet

We study the Neel to four-fold columnar valence bond solid (cVBS) quantum phase transition in a sign free $S=1$ square lattice model. This is the same kind of transition that for $S=1/2$ has been argued to realize the prototypical deconfined criticalpoint. Extensive numerical simulations of the square lattice $S=1/2$ Neel-VBS transition have found consistency with the DCP scenario with no direct evidence for first order behavior. In contrast to the $S=1/2$ case, in our quantum Monte Carlo simulations for the $S=1$ model, we present unambiguous evidence for a direct conventional first-order quantum phase transition. Classic signs for a first order transition demonstrating co-existence including double peaked histograms and switching behavior are observed. The sharp contrast from the $S=1/2$ case is remarkable, and is a striking demonstration of the role of the size of the quantum spin in the phase diagram of two dimensional lattice models.