Tunable non-equilibrium dynamics: field quenches in spin ice

Abstract

We present non-equilibrium physics in spin ice as a novel setting which combines kinematic constraints, emergent topological defects, and magnetic long range Coulomb interactions. In spin ice, magnetic frustration leads to highly degenerate yet locally constrained ground states. Together, they form a highly unusual magnetic state -- a "Coulomb phase" -- whose excitations are pointlike defects -- magnetic monopoles -- in the absence of which effectively no dynamics is possible. Hence, when they are sparse at low temperature, dynamics becomes very sluggish. When quenching the system from a monopole-rich to a monopole-poor state, a wealth of dynamical phenomena occur the exposition of which is the subject of this article. Most notably, we find reaction diffusion behaviour, slow dynamics due to kinematic constraints, as well as a regime corresponding to the deposition of interacting dimers on a honeycomb lattice. We also identify new potential avenues for detecting the magnetic monopoles in a regime of slow-moving monopoles. The interest in this model system is further enhanced by its large degree of tunability, and the ease of probing it in experiment: with varying magnetic fields at different temperatures, geometric properties -- including even the effective dimensionality of the system -- can be varied. By monitoring magnetisation, spin correlations or zero-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, the dynamical properties of the system can be extracted in considerable detail. This establishes spin ice as a laboratory of choice for the study of tunable, slow dynamics.

(16 pages, 13 figures)

References in corpus (5)

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• Spin Dynamics at Very Low Temperature in Spin Ice Dy${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$
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• Topological Blocking in Quantum Quench Dynamics
• Fragmentation in Frustrated Magnets -- A review
• When opposites repel: from metastability to extended chiral spin textures in spin ice with short-range topological-defect interactions
• Transition in coupled replicas may not imply a finite temperature ideal glass transition in glass forming systems
• Ultrasonic investigations of spin-ices Dy${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$ and Ho${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$ in and out of equilibrium
• Dynamic behavior of magnetic avalanches in the spin-ice compound Dy${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$
• Emergent Coulombic criticality and Kibble-Zurek scaling in a topological magnet
• Anomalous Magnetoresistance by Breaking Ice Rule in Bi2Ir2O7/Dy2Ti2O7 Heterostructure
• Prethermal time-crystalline spin ice and monopole confinement in a driven magnet
• Correlations, Dynamics, and Interferometry of Anyons in the Lowest Landau Level
• Extremely slow non-equilibrium monopole dynamics in classical spin ice
• Anomalous out-of-equilibrium dynamics in the spin-ice material Dy${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$ under moderate magnetic fields
• The monopole movement
• Crossover from string to cluster dynamics following a field quench in spin ice
• Dynamic scaling theory for a field quench near the Kasteleyn transition in spin ice
• Random Transverse Field Effects on Magnetic Noise in Spin Systems
• Long-range Coulomb interactions and nonhydrodynamic behavior in thermal quenches in spin ice
• Dynamic scaling near the Kasteleyn transition in spin ice: critical relaxation of monopoles and strings following a field quench