We figure out that the ground state of a multiple-spin exchange model applicable to thin films of solid 3He possesses an octahedral spin nematic order. In the presence of magnetic field, it is deformed into an antiferro-quadrupolar order in the perpendicular spin plane, in which lattice Z3 rotational symmetry is also broken. Furthermore, this system shows a narrow magnetization plateau at half, m/m_{sat}=1/2, which resembles recent magnetization measurement [H. Nema et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 075301 (2009)].
Nematic order is the breaking of rotational symmetry in the presence of translational invariance. While originally defined in the context of liquid crystals, the concept of nematic order has arisen in crystalline matter with discrete rotational symmetry, most prominently in the tetragonal Fe-based superconductors where the parent state is four-fold symmetric. In this case the nematic director takes on only two directions, and the order parameter in such "Ising-nematic" systems is a simple scalar. Here, using a novel spatially-resolved optical polarimetry technique, we show that a qualitatively…
The mechanism of the unconventional topological superconductivity (TSC) remains a long-standing issue. We investigate the quantum phase diagram of the extended $t$-$J$-$J_χ$ model including spin chiral interactions on triangular lattice based on the state-of-the-art density matrix renormalization group simulations. We identify distinct classes of superconducting phases characterized by nonzero topological Chern numbers $C=1$ and $2$, and a nematic d-wave superconducting phase with a zero Chern number. The TSC states are shown to emerge from doping either a magnetic insulator or chiral spin liq…
The $U(1)$ quantum link model on the triangular lattice has two rotation-symmetry-breaking nematic confined phases. Static external charges are connected by confining strings consisting of individual strands with fractionalized electric flux. The two phases are separated by a weak first order phase transition with an emergent almost exact $SO(2)$ symmetry. We construct a quantum circuit on a chip to facilitate near-term quantum computations of the non-trivial string dynamics.
NiGa$_2$S$_4$ is a triangular lattice S=1 system with strong two-dimensionality of the lattice, actively discussed as a candidate to host spin-nematic order brought about by strong quadrupole coupling. Using Raman scattering spectroscopy we identify a phonon of E$_g$ symmetry which can modulate magnetic exchange $J_1$ and produce quadrupole coupling. Additionally, our Raman scattering results demonstrate a loss of local inversion symmetry on cooling, which we associate with sulfur vacancies. This will lead to disordered Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which can prevent long range magnetic …
We consider a series of Mott insulators in unit of two orbitals each hosting spin-1/2 electron, and by pairing two spin-1/2 into spin-1 triplet, derive the effective exchange interaction between the adjacent units via fourth order perturbation theory. It turns out that the biquadratic exchange interaction between spin-1, which is one of the origins of the nematic order, arises only in processes where the four different electrons exchange cyclically along the twisted loop, which we call "twisted ring exchange" processes. We show that the term becomes the same order with the Heisenberg exchange …
Using a specially designed Monte Carlo algorithm with directed loops, we investigate the triangular lattice Ising antiferromagnet with coupling beyond nearest neighbour. We show that the first-order transition from the stripe state to the paramagnet can be split, giving rise to an intermediate nematic phase in which algebraic correlations coexist with a broken symmetry. Furthermore, we demonstrate the emergence of several properties of a more topological nature such as fractional edge excitations in the stripe state, the proliferation of double domain walls in the nematic phase, and the Kastel…
Quantum spin ice materials, pyrochlore magnets with competing Ising and transverse exchange interactions, have been widely discussed as candidates for a quantum spin-liquid ground state. Here, motivated by quantum chemical calculations for Pr pyrochlores, we present the results of a study for frustrated transverse exchange. Using a combination of variational calculations, exact diagonalisation, numerical linked-cluster and series expansions, we find that the previously-studied U(1) quantum spin liquid, in its pi-flux phase, transforms into a nematic quantum spin liquid at a high-symmetry, SU(2…
We study classical two-dimensional frustrated Heisenberg models with generically incommensurate groundstates. A new theory for the spin-nematic "order by disorder" transition is developed based on the self-consistent determination of the effective exchange coupling bonds. In our approach, fluctuations of the constraint field imposing conservation of the local magnetic moment drive nematicity at low temperatures. The critical temperature is found to be highly sensitive to the peak helimagnetic wavevector, and vanishes continuously when approaching rotation symmetric Lifshitz points. Transitions…
The spin$-1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb bilayer lattice is shown to display a rich variety of semiclassical and genuinely quantum phases, controlled by the interplay between intralayer frustration and interlayer exchange. Employing a complementary set of techniques, comprising spin rotationally invariant Schwinger boson mean field theory, bond operators, and series expansions we unveil the quantum phase diagram, analyzing low-energy excitations and order parameters. By virtue of Schwinger bosons we scan the complete range of exchange parameters, covering both long range orde…
Frustration in magnetic interactions can give rise to disordered ground states with subtle and beautiful properties. The spin ices Ho2Ti2O7 and Dy2Ti2O7 exemplify this phenomenon, displaying a classical spin liquid state, with fractionalized magnetic--monopole excitations. Recently there has been great interest in closely-related "quantum spin ice" materials, following the realization that anisotropic exchange interactions could convert spin ice into a massively-entangled, quantum, spin liquid, where magnetic monopoles become the charges of an emergent quantum electrodynamics. Here we show tha…
We provide a route to generate nematic order in a spin-1/2 system. Unlike the well-known magnon-binding mechanism, our spin nematics requires neigher the frustration effect nor a spin polarization in a high field or in the vicinity of a ferromagnet, but instead appears next to the spin singlet phase. We start from a state consisting of a quantum spin-1/2 singlet dimer placed on each site of a triangular lattice, and show that inter-dimer ring exchange interactions efficiently dope the SU(2) triplets that itinerate and interact, easily driving a stable singlet state to either Bose Einstein cond…
Ring-exchange interactions have been proposed as a possible mechanism for a Bose-liquid phase at zero temperature, a phase that is compressible with no superfluidity. Using the Stochastic Green Function algorithm (SGF), we study the effect of these interactions for bosons on a two-dimensional triangular lattice. We show that the supersolid phase, that is known to exist in the ground state for a wide range of densities, is rapidly destroyed as the ring-exchange interactions are turned on. We establish the ground-state phase diagram of the system, which is characterized by the absence of the exp…
By using a numerically exact diagonalization technique and a block-extended version of the finite-temperature Lanczos method, we study thermodynamic properties of an $S=1/2$ Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice with an antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interaction $J$ and a four-spin ring-exchange interaction $J_{\rm c}$. Calculations are performed on small clusters under the periodic-boundary conditions. In contrast to the purely triangular case with $J_{\rm c}=0$, the specific heat exhibits a characteristic double-peak structure for $J_{\rm c}/J \gtrsim 0.04$. From the calculation of …
The ground state of the multiple-spin exchange model with up to the six-spin exchange interactions on a triangular lattice in the magnetic field is investigated within the mean-field approximation. By comparing the phase diagrams of systems with and without the five- and six-spin interactions, we find that the five- and six-spin interactions expand the ferromagnetic phase. In contrast, the antiferromagnetic-like phases are contracted. A phase with a 1/2 plateau is also contracted by the five- and six-spin interactions. In addition to the results that have not yet been reported for systems with…
We investigate a highly frustrated spin-1 model on the triangular lattice, with nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic $S\cdot S$ interactions and nearest-neighbor $(S\cdot S)^2$ interactions. Using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) technique, we find three magnetically ordered phases, namely 120$^\circ$ spiral order, stripe order, and tetrahedral order, as well as two spin nematic phases: ferroquadrupolar and antiferroquadrupolar. While our data could be consistent with a spin liquid phase between the 120$^\circ$ spiral and antiferroquadrupolar orders, the more lik…
The existence of a gapped chiral spin liquid has been recently suggested in the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition of the Hubbard model on the triangular lattice, by intensive density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations [A. Szasz, J. Motruk, M.P. Zaletel, and J.E. Moore, Phys. Rev. X {\bf 10}, 021042 (2020)]. Here, we report the results obtained within the variational Monte Carlo technique based upon Jastrow-Slater wave functions, implemented with backflow correlations. As in DMRG calculations, we consider $N$-leg cylinders. For $N=4$ and in the presence of a next-nearest n…
We study the effects of quantum fluctuations on a non-coplanar tetrahedral spin structure, which has a scalar chiral order, in the spin-1/2 multiple-spin exchange model with up to the six-spin exchange interactions on a triangular lattice. We find that, in the linear spin-wave approximation, the tetrahedral structure survives the quantum fluctuations because spin waves do not soften in the whole parameter region of the tetrahedral-structure phase evaluated for the classical system. In the quantum corrections to the ground-state energy, sublattice magnetization, and scalar chirality, the effect…
We study frustrated spin-1/2 dimer systems in two dimensions with a bilayer structure, where spins are ferromagnetically coupled in dimers. Our model includes frustrated two-spin exchange interactions as well as four-spin interaction. We pay particular attention to the spin nematic phase, which does not exhibit any magnetic (spin-dipole) order but has a spin-quadrupolar long-range order. Employing a perturbation calculation, a mean-field approximation, and a numerical many-variable variational Monte Carlo method, we determine ground-state phase diagrams on various two-dimensional lattices. It …
Modern theories of quantum magnetism predict exotic multipolar states in weakly interacting strongly frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains with ferromagnetic nearest neighbor (NN) inchain exchange in high magnetic fields. Experimentally these states remained elusive so far. Here we report the evidence for a long-sought magnetic field-induced nematic state arising above a field of $\sim 13$ T in the edge-sharing chain cuprate LiSbCuO$_4$ $\equiv$ LiCuSbO$_4$. This interpretation is based on the observation of a field induced spin-gap in the measurements of the $^7$Li NMR spin relaxation rate $T…
We investigate the nature of a $Z_2$-invariant XY ring-exchange interaction with a frustrated Ising coupling on the triangular lattice. In the limit of pure XY ring-exchange interaction, we show that the classical ground state is degenerate resulting from the $Z_2$-invariance of the Hamiltonian. Quantum fluctuations lift these classical degenerate ground states and produce an unusual state whose excitation spectrum exhibits a gapped maximum quadratic dispersion near ${\bf k}=0$ and vanishes at the midpoints of each side of the Brillouin zone. This result is in contrast to a gapless quadratic d…
Triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnets are prototypes of geometric frustration, even if for nearest-neighbor interactions quantum fluctuations are not usually strong enough to destroy magnetic ordering: stronger frustration is required to stabilize a spin-liquid phase. On the basis of static magnetization and electron spin resonance measurements, we demonstrate the emergence of ${\tilde{j}_{\text{eff}}=\frac12}$ moments in the triangular-lattice magnet Na$_2$BaCo(PO$_4$)$_2$. These moments are subject to an extra source of frustration that causes magnetic correlations to set in far above both …
The anisotropic-exchange spin-1/2 model on a triangular lattice has been used to describe the rare-earth chalcogenides, which may have exotic ground states. We investigate the quantum phase diagram of the model by using the projected entangled pair state (PEPS) method, and compare it to the classical phase diagram. Besides two stripe-ordered phase, and the 120$^\circ$ state, there is also a multi-\textbf{Q} phase. We identify the multi-\textbf{Q} phase as a $Z_{2}$ vortex state. No quantum spin liquid state is found in the phase diagram, contrary to the previous DMRG calculations.
Ground state magnetic properties of the spin-dependent Falicov-Kimball model (FKM) are studied by incorporating the intrasite exchange correlation J (between itinerant $d$- and localized $f$- electrons) and intersite (superexchange) correlation $J_{se}$ (between localized $f$- electrons) on a triangular lattice for two different fillings. Numerical diagonalization and Monte-Carlo techniques are used to determine the ground state magnetic properties. Transitions from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic and again to re-entrant antiferromagnetic phase is observed in a wide range of parameter space…
Motivated by recent reports of nematic order in twisted bilayer graphene (TBG), we investigate the impact of the triangular moiré superlattice degrees of freedom on nematicity. In TBG, the nematic order parameter is not Ising-like, as it is the case in tetragonal crystals, but has a 3-state Potts character related to the threefold rotational symmetry ($C_{3z}$) of the moiré superlattice. We find that even in the presence of static strain that explicitly breaks the $C_{3z}$ symmetry, the system can still undergo a nematic-flop phase transition that spontaneously breaks in-plane twofold rotation…
