Interfaces, Strings, and a Soft Mode in the Square Lattice Quantum Dimer Model

Abstract

The quantum dimer model on the square lattice is equivalent to a $U(1)$ gauge theory. Quantum Monte Carlo calculations reveal that, for values of the Rokhsar-Kivelson (RK) coupling $\lambda <1$, the theory exists in a confining columnar phase. The interfaces separating distinct columnar phases display plaquette order, which, however, is not realized as a bulk phase. Static "electric" charges are confined by flux tubes that consist of multiple strands, each carrying a fractionalized flux $\frac{1}{4}$. A soft pseudo-Goldstone mode emerges around $\lambda \approx 0$, long before one reaches the RK point at $\lambda =1$.

5 pages, 12 figures

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Two-dimensional Lattice Gauge Theories with Superconducting Quantum Circuits
• Numerical study of magnetization plateaux in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the checkerboard lattice