Finite-temperature behavior of a classical spin-orbit-coupled model for ${\text{YbMgGaO}}_4$ with and without bond disorder

Abstract

We present the results of finite-temperature classical Monte Carlo simulations of a strongly spin-orbit-coupled nearest-neighbor triangular-lattice model for the candidate $\mathrm{U}(1)$ quantum spin liquid ${\mathrm{YbMgGaO}}_4$ at large system sizes. We find a single continuous finite-temperature stripe-ordering transition with slowly diverging heat capacity that completely breaks the sixfold ground-state degeneracy, despite the absence of a known conformal field theory describing such a transition. We also simulate the effect of random-bond disorder in the model, and find that even weak bond disorder destroys the transition by fragmenting the system into very large domains -- possibly explaining the lack of observed ordering in the real material. The Imry-Ma argument only partially explains this fragility to disorder, and we extend the argument with a physical explanation for the preservation of our system's time-reversal symmetry even under a disorder model that preserves the same symmetry.

16 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (13)

• Pyrochlore Photons: The U(1) Spin Liquid in a S=1/2 Three-Dimensional Frustrated Magnet
• Continuous excitations of the triangular-lattice quantum spin liquid YbMgGaO4
• U(1) Gauge Theory of the Hubbard Model : Spin Liquid States and Possible Application to k-(BEDT-TTF)_2 Cu_2 (CN)_3
• On the stability of U(1) spin liquids in two dimensions
• $\mu$SR evidence for the U(1) quantum spin liquid ground state in the triangular antiferromagnet YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Crystalline Electric Field Randomness in the Triangular Lattice Spin-Liquid YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Spin-glass ground state in a triangular-lattice compound YbZnGaO${}_4$
• Stability of the U(1) spin liquid with spinon Fermi surface in 2+1 dimensions
• Spin-triplet pairing instability of the spinon Fermi surface in a U(1) spin liquid
• Semiclassical ground-state phase diagram and multi-Q phase of a spin-orbit coupled model on triangular lattice
• Cluster-glass phase in pyrochlore XY antiferromagnets with quenched disorder
• Order Induced by Dilution in Pyrochlore XY Antiferromagnets
• Strong exchange anisotropy in YbMgGaO${}_4$ from polarized neutron diffraction

Cited by in corpus (27)

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• Anisotropic-Exchange Magnets on a Triangular Lattice: Spin Waves, Accidental Degeneracies, and Dual Spin Liquids
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• Survival of itinerant excitations and quantum spin state transitions in YbMgGaO${}_4$ with chemical disorder
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• Realization of Quantum Dipoles in Triangular Lattice Crystal Ba3Yb(BO3)3
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• The two-dimensional metallic triangular lattice antiferromagnet CeCd3P3
• Disorder-induced spin-liquid-like behavior in kagome-lattice compounds
• Cyclotron resonance inside the Mott gap: a fingerprint of emergent neutral fermions
• Comprehensive study of the global phase diagram in the triangular $J$-$K$-$\Gamma$ model
• Disorder-induced broadening of the spin waves in a triangular-lattice quantum-spin-liquid candidate YbZnGaO${}_4$
• Persistent spin dynamics and absence of spin freezing in the $H$-$T$ phase diagram of the 2D triangular antiferromagnet YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Exact diagonalization study of the anisotropic Heisenberg model related to YbMgGaO${}_4$
• The phase diagram of a frustrated Heisenberg model: from disorder to order and back again
• Phase Diagram of YbZnGaO4 in Applied Magnetic Field
• Dynamic magnetism in the disordered hexagonal double perovskite BaTi${}_{1/2}$Mn${}_{1/2}$O${}_3$
• Signatures for spinons in the quantum spin liquid candidate Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$
• Constraining the Parameter Space of a Quantum Spin Liquid Candidate in Applied Field with Iterative Optimization
• Reinvestigation of the homogeneous spin model in YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Non-magnetic ion site disorder effects on the quantum magnetism of a spin-1/2 equilateral triangular lattice antiferromagnet
• Scaling and data collapse of two-dimensional random singlet state in magnetic field