Waves in the unseen : theory of spin excitations in a quantum spin nematic

Abstract

The idea that a quantum magnet could act like a liquid crystal, breaking spin-rotation symmetry without breaking time-reversal symmetry, holds an abiding fascination. However, the very fact that spin nematic states do not break time-reversal symmetry renders them "invisible" to the most common probes of magnetism - they do not exhibit magnetic Bragg peaks, a static splitting of lines in NMR spectra, or oscillations in muSR. Nonetheless, as a consequence of breaking spin-rotation symmetry, spin-nematic states do possess a characteristic spectrum of dispersing excitations which could be observed in experiment. With this in mind, we develop a symmetry-based description of long-wavelength excitations in a spin-nematic state, based on an SU(3) generalisation of the quantum non-linear sigma model. We use this field theory to make explicit predictions for inelastic neutron scattering, and argue that the wave-like excitations it predicts could be used to identify the symmetries broken by the otherwise unseen spin-nematic order.

Accepted for publication in Physical Review B, 23 pages, 13 figures, 2 animations attached as ancillary files

References in corpus (23)

• Vector chiral and multipolar orders in the spin-1/2 frustrated ferromagnetic chain in magnetic field
• The quadrupolar phases of the S=1 bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice
• Emergent multipolar spin correlations in a fluctuating spiral - The frustrated ferromagnetic S=1/2 Heisenberg chain in a magnetic field
• Spin nematic correlations in bilinear-biquadratic S=1 spin chains
• Frustrated ferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain in a magnetic field: The phase diagram and thermodynamic properties
• Multi-magnon bound states in the frustrated ferromagnetic 1D chain
• Octupolar ordering of classical kagome antiferromagnets in two and three dimensions
• New high magnetic field phase of the frustrated $S=1/2$ chain compound LiCuVO${}_4$
• Correlation functions and excitation spectrum of the frustrated ferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain in an external magnetic field
• Possible ferro-spin nematic order in NiGa2S4
• Quadrupolar correlations and spin freezing in S = 1 triangular lattice antiferromagnets
• Spin-Nematic and Spin-Density-Wave Orders in Spatially Anisotropic Frustrated Magnets in a Magnetic Field
• Classical antiferromagnet on a hyperkagome lattice
• Zigzag spin chains with antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic interactions: Transfer-matrix renormalization group study
• Octupolar order in the multiple spin exchange model on a triangular lattice
• Determination of the Antiferroquadrupolar Order Parameters in UPd3
• Exact one- and two-particle excitation spectra of acute-angle helimagnets above their saturation magnetic field
• Phase diagram and continuous pair-unbinding transition of the bilinear-biquadratic S=1 Heisenberg chain in a magnetic field
• The SU(3) bosons and the spin nematic state on the spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic triangular lattice
• Pairing of Solitons in Two-Dimensional S=1 Magnets
• Spin nematic ground state of the triangular lattice S=1 biquadratic model
• Spin nematic phase in (quasi-)one-dimensional frustrated magnet in strong magnetic field
• Semiclassical Approach to Competing Orders in Two-leg Spin Ladder with Ring-Exchange

Cited by in corpus (54)

• Search for a spin-nematic phase in the quasi-one-dimensional frustrated magnet LiCuVO${}_4$
• Competing spin liquids and hidden nematic order in spin ice with frustrated transverse exchange
• Generalization of the Haldane conjecture to SU(3) chains
• Excitations and quasi-one-dimensionality in field-induced nematic and spin density wave states
• Generalized spin-wave theory: application to the bilinear-biquadratic model
• Quantum spin ice with frustrated transverse exchange: from pi-flux phase to nematic quantum spin liquid
• Quantum and Thermal Phase Transitions of the Triangular SU(3) Heisenberg Model under Magnetic Fields
• Ghost in the machine: Theory of inelastic neutron scattering in a field-induced spin-nematic state
• Novel phases in a square-lattice frustrated ferromagnet : 1/3-magnetisation plateau, helicoidal spin-liquid and vortex crystal
• Intrinsic quantum Ising model on a triangular lattice magnet TmMgGaO${}_4$ and beyond
• Spin Ferroquadrupolar Order in the Nematic Phase of FeSe
• Semi-classical simulation of spin-1 magnets
• Quadrupolar magnetic excitations in an isotropic spin-1 antiferromagnet
• Quantum spin nematic phase in a square-lattice iridate
• Quantum solitons with emergent interactions in a model of cold atoms on the triangular lattice
• Isolated Skyrmions in the $C{P}^2$ nonlinear $\sigma$-model with a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya type interaction
• Putative spin-nematic phase in BaCdVO(PO${}_4$)${}_2$
• Spin dynamics of the bilinear-biquadratic $S=1$ Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice: a quantum Monte Carlo study
• Quantum phase transitions in Heisenberg $J_1-J_2$ triangular antiferromagnet in a magnetic field
• Antiferroquadrupolar order and rotational symmetry breaking in a generalized bilinear-biquadratic model on a square lattice
• Spin and quadrupolar orders in the spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic model for iron-based superconductors
• Electron spin resonance for the detection of long-range spin nematic order
• Magnetic phase diagram slightly below the saturation field in the stacked $J_1$-$J_2$ model in the square lattice with the $J_{\text{C}}$ interlayer coupling
• Eight-color chiral spin liquid in the $S=1$ bilinear-biquadratic model with Kitaev interactions
• Thermodynamics of frustrated ferromagnetic spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg chains: The role of inter-chain coupling
• Probing Hidden Orders with Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering
• Topological terms of (2+1)d flag-manifold sigma models
• Phase diagram of the alternating-spin Heisenberg chain with extra isotropic three-body exchange interactions
• Two-photon driven magnon-pair resonance as a signature of spin-nematic order
• $SU(3)$ Knot Solitons: Hopfions in the $F_2$ Skyrme-Faddeev-Niemi model
• Novel quantum phase of the chromium spinel oxide HgCr${}_2$O${}_4$ in high magnetic fields
• Gravitational wave analogues in spin nematics and cold atoms
• Enhancing quantum annealing performance by a degenerate two-level system
• BPS Sphalerons in the $F_2$ Non-Linear Sigma Model
• Field-induced spin nematic Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid of the $S=1/2$ spin ladder system with the anisotropic ferromagnetic rung interaction
• Quantum spiral spin-tensor magnetism
• Phase diagram of a bilinear-biquadratic spin-1 model on the triangular lattice from density matrix renormalization group simulations
• Anisotropic magnetic excitations of a frustrated bilinear-biquadratic spin model -- Implications for spin waves of detwinned iron pnictides
• Finite temperature thermodynamic properties of the spin-1 nematics in an applied magnetic field
• Possible Observation of Quadrupole Waves in Spin Nematics
• Multiple-$q$ dipole-quadrupole instability in spin-1 triangular-lattice systems
• Deconfined quantum criticality in SU(3) antiferromagnets on the triangular lattice
• Large magnetic thermal conductivity induced by frustration in low-dimensional quantum magnets
• Dynamics of quantum spin-nematics: Comparisons with canted antiferromagnets
• Sigma-model analysis of $SU(3)$ antiferromagnetic spins on the triangular lattice
• Keldysh pseudo-fermion functional renormalization group for quantum magnetism
• Electronic spin-triplet nematic with a twist
• Heisenberg spin chains with additional isotropic three-site exchange interactions
• Nematic correlations and nematic Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in spin-1 kagome lattice antiferromagnets
• Phononic enhancement and detection of hidden spin-nematicity and dynamics in quantum magnets
• A systematic approach to determine the spectral characteristics of molecular magnets
• Emergent quantum field theories on curved spacetimes in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates: from scalar to Proca fields
• Symmetry Rules on Multipole Interactions under Crystallographic Point Groups and Application to Multiple-$Q$ Multipole States
• Quadrupolar quantum criticality on a fractal