Dynamically-Induced Frustration as a Route to a Quantum Spin Ice State in Tb2Ti2O7 via Virtual Crystal Field Excitations and Quantum Many-Body Effects

Abstract

The Tb${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$ pyrochlore magnetic material is attracting much attention for its {\em spin liquid} state, failing to develop long range order down to 50 mK despite a Curie-Weiss temperature ${\theta }_{\mathrm{CW}}\sim -14$ K. In this paper we reinvestigate the theoretical description of this material by considering a quantum model of independent tetrahedra to describe its low temperature properties. The naturally-tuned proximity of this system near a Néel to spin ice phase boundary allows for a resurgence of quantum fluctuation effects that lead to an important renormalization of its effective low energy spin Hamiltonian. As a result, Tb${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$ is argued to be a {\em quantum spin ice}. We put forward an experimental test of this proposal using neutron scattering on a single crystal.

5 pages, 3 figures. Version 2 has a modified introduction. Figure 2b of version 1 (experimental neutron scattering has been removed. A proposal for an experimental test is now included accompanied by a new Figure (Fig. 3)

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• Pyrochlore Photons: The U(1) Spin Liquid in a S=1/2 Three-Dimensional Frustrated Magnet
• Why spin ice obeys the ice rules
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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Phonon and crystal field excitations in geometrically frustrated rare earth titanates
• Structural distortion and the spin liquid state in Tb2Ti2O7
• Structural Fluctuations in the Spin Liquid State of Tb2Ti2O7
• Energetic selection of ordered states in a model of the Er2Ti2O7 frustrated pyrochlore XY antiferromagnet
• Quantum spin configurations in Tb2Ti2O7
• Proposal for a [111] Magnetization Plateau in the Spin Liquid State of Tb2Ti2O7
• Low temperature specific heat and possible gap to magnetic excitations in the Heisenberg pyrochlore antiferromagnet Gd2Sn207
• Field induced spin ice like orders in spin liquid Tb${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$
• Hidden magnetic frustration by quantum relaxation in anisotropic Nd-langasite
• Effective Spin-1/2 Description of Transverse-Field-Induced Random Fields in Dipolar Spin Glasses with Strong Single-Ion Anisotropy
• Assessment of the RE(OH)3 Ising-like Magnetic Materials as Possible Candidates for the Study of Transverse-Field-Induced Quantum Phase Transitions