Nematic Spin Liquid Phase in a Frustrated Spin-1 System on the Square Lattice

Abstract

Frustration in quantum spin systems promote a variety of novel quantum phases. An important example is the frustrated spin-$1$ model on the square lattice with the nearest-neighbor bilinear ($J_1$) and biquadratic ($K_1$) interactions. We provide strong evidence for a nematic spin liquid phase in a range of $K_1/J_1$ near the SU(3)-symmetric point ($J_1=K_1$), based on the linear flavor-wave theory and extensive density matrix renormalization group calculation. This phase displays no spin dipolar or quadrupolar order, preserves translational symmetry but spontaneously breaks $C_4$ lattice rotational symmetry, and possesses fluctuations peaked at the wavevector $(\pi ,2\pi /3)$. The spin excitation gap drops rapidly with system size and appears to be gapless, and the nematic order is attributed to the dominant $(\pi ,2\pi /3)$ fluctuations. Our results provide a novel mechanism for electronic nematic order and, more generally, open up a new avenue to explore frustration-induced exotic ground states.

15 pages, 16 figures, 1 table

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• Quantum coherence and spin nematic to nematic quantum phase transitions in biquadratic spin-1 and -2 XY chains with rhombic single-ion anisotropy
• Spin Nematics Meet Spin Liquids: Exotic Quantum Phases in the Spin-$1$ Bilinear-Biquadratic Model with Kitaev Interactions
• Gapless quantum spin liquid in a honeycomb $\Gamma$ magnet
• Time-reversal symmetry breaking Abelian chiral spin liquid in Mott phases of three-component fermions on the triangular lattice
• Density Matrix Renormalization Group Study of Nematicity in Two Dimensions: Application to a Spin-$1$ Bilinear-Biquadratic Model on the Square Lattice
• First-order Néel-cVBS transition in a model square lattice $S=1$ antiferromagnet
• Phase diagram of a bilinear-biquadratic spin-1 model on the triangular lattice from density matrix renormalization group simulations
• Engineering frustrated Rydberg spin models by graphical Floquet modulation
• Quantum criticality and emergent orders in the spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic-Kitaev chain
• Emergent Quadrupolar Order in the Spin-$1/2$ Kitaev-Heisenberg Model
• Haldane phases and phase diagrams of the S = 3/2, 1 bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model on the orthogonal dimer chain
• Fragility of the nematic spin liquid induced by diagonal couplings in the square-lattice SU(3) model
• Deconfined pseudocriticality in a model spin-1 quantum antiferromagnet