We study the spectrum and the nature of the excitations of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) Heisenberg chain with staggered long range interactions, both numerically using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (tDMRG) method and by means of a multi-spinon approximation that qualitatively explains its main features. The unfrustrated long-range nature of the exchange effectively increases the dimensionality of the system and the chain is able to undergo true symmetry breaking and develop long range order, transitioning from a gapless spin liquid to a gapless ordered AFM phase. We calculated the momentum resolved spin dynamical structure factor and found that for weakly decaying interactions the emergence of Néel order can be associated to the formation of bound states of spinons that become coherent magnons. The quasiparticle band leaks out from the two-spinon continuum that is pushed up to higher energies. Our physical picture is also supported by an analysis of the behavior of the excitations in real-time.
The transition between the Néel antiferromagnet and the valence-bond solid state in two dimensions has become a paradigmatic example of deconfined quantum criticality, a non-Landau transition characterized by fractionalized excitations (spinons). We consider an extension of this scenario whereby the deconfined spinons are subject to a magnetic field. The primary purpose is to identify the exotic scenario of a Bose-Einstein condensate of spinons. We employ quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the \mbox{$J$-$Q$} model with a magnetic field and perform a quantum field theoretic analysis of the magn…
We study the dynamic spin structure factor of the spin-$1/2$ square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet and of the $J$-$Q$ model (with 4-spin interactions $Q$ and Heisenberg exchange $J$). Using an improved method for stochastic analytic continuation of imaginary-time correlation functions computed with QMC simulations, we can treat the sharp ($δ$-function) contribution from spinwaves (magnons) and a continuum at higher energy. The results for the Heisenberg model agree with neutron scattering experiments on Cu(DCOO)$_2$$\cdot$4D$_2$O, where a broad spectral-weight continuum at $q=(π,0)$ was in…
In conventional quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnets with quantum spins, magnetic excitations are carried by either magnons or spinons in different energy regimes: they do not coexist independently, nor could they interact with each other. In this Letter, by combining inelastic neutron scattering, quantum Monte Carlo simulations and Random Phase Approximation calculations, we report the discovery and discuss the physics of the coexistence of magnons and spinons and their interactions in Botallackite-Cu2(OH)3Br. This is a unique quantum antiferromagnet consisting of alternating ferromagnetic …
Quantum spin systems exhibit an enormous range of collective excitations, but their spin waves, gapped triplons, fractional spinons, or yet other modes are generally held to be mutually exclusive. Here we show by neutron spectroscopy on SeCuO$_3$ that magnons, triplons, and spinons are present simultaneously. We demonstrate that this is a consequence of a structure consisting of two coupled subsystems and identify all the interactions of a minimal magnetic model. Our results serve qualitatively to open the field of multi-excitation spin systems and quantitatively to constrain the complete theo…
We investigate magnetic excitations in the frustrated zigzag spin-1/2 chain compound $β$-TeVO$_4$ by inelastic neutron scattering. In the magnetically ordered ground state, the excitation spectrum exhibits coexisting magnon dispersion, characteristic of long-range magnetic order, and a spinon-like continuum that prevails above 2 meV, indicating the dominance of intrachain interactions. Combining linear-spin-wave-theory and pre-calculated spinon-continuum results, we reproduce the experimental spectrum. Our analysis offers a minimal exchange-network model which determines dominant intrachain in…
We study the level structure of excitations at the "deconfined" critical point separating antiferromagnetic and valence-bond-solid phases in two-dimensional quantum spin systems using the $J$-$Q$ model as an example. Energy gaps in different spin ($S$) and momentum (${\bf k}$) sectors are extracted from imaginary-time correlation functions obtained in quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We find strong quantitative evidence for deconfined linearly dispersing spinons with gapless points at ${\bf k}=(0,0)$, $(π,0)$, $(0,π)$, and $(π,π)$, as inferred from two-spinon excitations ($S=0$ and $S=1$ state…
Deconfined quantum criticality of the O(3) nonlinear $σ$ model in two spacial dimensions: A renormalization group study
研究了二维O（3）非线性$σ$模型{无Berry相的\it}的量子相变.利用非线性$σ$模型的$CP^{1}$表示，得到了玻色自旋子通过紧致U（1）规范场相互作用的有效作用量.基于有效场论，我们发现玻色自旋子在非线性$σ$模型的量子临界点处被退禁闭。强调了自旋子的解除禁闭是{ \it in the absence of Berry phase}实现的。这与Senthil等人的先前研究[Science { \bf 303}，1490（2004）]形成对比，在Senthil等人的先前研究中，Berry相起关键作用，导致自旋子的解除禁闭。这就是为什么即使在没有Berry相位效应的情况下也能得到解除禁闭的原因，因为量子临界点是由XY（“中性”）固定点描述的，而不是IXY（“带电”）固定点。IXY不动点被证明是不稳定的对瞬子激发和瞬子激发增殖。{ \it在IXY固定点处，Berry相位效应抑制了瞬子激发，导致自旋子解除禁闭}。{ \it另一方面，XY固定点被发现对瞬子激发是稳定的，因为在中性XY固定点处有效内部电荷为零}。结果表明，在二维O（3）非线性$σ$模型的量子临界点处，自旋子的解禁闭发生了.
Observing constituent particles with fractional quantum numbers in confined and deconfined states is an interesting and challenging problem in quantum many-body physics. Here we further explore a computational scheme [Y. Tang and A. W. Sandvik, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 107}, 157201 (2011)] based on valence-bond quantum Monte Carlo simulations of quantum spin systems. Using several different one-dimensional models, we characterize $S=1/2$ spinon excitations using the spinon size and confinement length (the size of a bound state). The spinons have finite size in valence-bond-solid states, infinite …
Dynamical spin-structure factor (DSF) contains fingerprint information of collective excitations in interacting quantum spin systems. In solid state experiments, DSF can be measured through neutron scatterings. However, it is in general challenging to compute the spectral properties accurately via many-body simulations. Currently, quantum simulation and computation constitute a thriving research field, which are believed to provide a very promising platform for simulating quantum many-body systems. In this work, we establish a link between the many-body dynamics and quantum simulations by stud…
Gauge-constrained Spinon Complexes Near Deconfined Quantum Criticality
University of Tokyo（东京大学）；Institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Tokyo（东京大学固体物理研究所）；Trans-scale Quantum Science Institute, The University of Tokyo（东京大学跨尺度量子科学研究所）；University of Chongqing（重庆大学）；Department of Physics, University of Chongqing（重庆大学物理学院）
The electron spin resonance doublet indicating the width of the two spinon continuum in a spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cs2CuCl4 was studied in high magnetic field. The doublet was found to collapse in a magnetic field of a half of the saturation field. The collapse of the doublet occurs via vanishing of the high frequency component in a qualitative agreement with the theoretical prediction for the S=1/2 chain. The field of the collapse is, however, much lower than expected for the S=1/2 chain. This is proposed to be due to the destruction of frustration of interchain …
Spin liquids are exotic quantum states characterized by the existence of fractional and deconfined quasiparticle excitations, referred to as spinons and visons. Their fractional nature establishes topological properties such as a protected ground-state degeneracy. This work investigates spin-orbit coupled spin liquids where, additionally, topology enters via non-trivial band structures of the spinons. We revisit the $Z_2$ spin-liquid phases that have recently been identified in a projective symmetry-group analysis on the square lattice when spin-rotation symmetry is maximally lifted [Phys. Rev…
We report the neutron scattering results on magnetic orderings and excitations in $\mathrm{Ba}_2\mathrm{CoTeO}_6$ composed of two almost isolated subsystems A and B, which are described as an $S\,{=}\,1/2$ triangular Heisenberg-like antiferromagnet and a frustrated honeycomb Ising-like antiferromagnet, respectively. Stripy ordering of subsystem B was confirmed below $T_{\rm N1}\,{=}\,12.0$ K, whereas sharp streaks were observed along $(1/3, 1/3, L)$ and $(2/3, 2/3, L)$ at 0.3 K (${\ll}\,T_{\rm N2}\,{=}\,3.0$ K). This indicates the two-dimensional nature of ordering in subsystem A. It was found…
Deconfined quantum critical point in a dissipative spin-1/2 chain
School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学物理与天文学院）；Key Laboratory of Multiscale Spin Physics (Beijing Normal University), Ministry of Education（教育部多尺度自旋物理重点实验室（北京师范大学））；Shandong Engineering Research Center of Aeronautical Materials and Devices, College of Aeronautical Engineering, Shandong University of Aeronautics（山东航空工程材料设备工程研究中心，滨州学院航空工程学院）
Motivated by the rich phase diagrams recently unveiled in frustrated spin-1 chains with competing next-nearest neighbour and four-spin interactions, we investigate the nature of the elementary excitations of spin-1 chains in the vicinity of phase transitions using the matrix-product state (MPS) representation of elementary excitations. First, we show that both spinons and magnons naturally arise in SU(2) invariant spin chains when describing ground states and elementary excitations using MPS. Then we investigate the nature of the elementary excitations across the first-oder transition between …
We employ a variational Monte Carlo approach to efficiently obtain the dynamical structure factor for the spin-1/2 $J_1-J_2$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice. Upon increasing the frustrating ratio $J_2/J_1$, the ground state undergoes a continuous transition from a Néel antiferromagnet to a $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ gapless spin liquid. We identify the characteristic spectral features in both phases and highlight the existence of a broad continuum of excitations in the proximity of the spin-liquid phase. The magnon branch, which dominates the spectrum of the unfrustrated Heisenberg model, gradual…
Understanding the nature of the excitation spectrum in quantum spin liquids is of fundamental importance, in particular for the experimental detection of candidate materials. However, current theoretical and numerical techniques have limited capabilities, especially in obtaining the dynamical structure factor, which gives a crucial characterization of the ultimate nature of the quantum state and may be directly assessed by inelastic neutron scattering. In this work, we investigate the low-energy properties of the $S=1/2$ Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice, including both nearest-neighb…
The family of edge-sharing tri-coordinated iridates and ruthenates has emerged in recent years as a major platform for Kitaev spin liquid physics, where spins fractionalize into emergent magnetic fluxes and Majorana fermions with Dirac-like dispersions. While such exotic states are usually pre-empted by long-range magnetic order at low temperatures, signatures of Majorana fermions with long coherent times have been predicted to manifest at intermediate and higher energy scales, similar to the observation of spinons in quasi-1D spin chains. Here we present a Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering …
Based on the mapping between $s=1/2$ spin operators and hard-core bosons, we extend the cluster perturbation theory to spin systems and study the whole excitation spectrum of the antiferromagnetic $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice. In the Néel phase for $J_{2}\lesssim0.4J_{1}$, in addition to the dominant magnon excitation, there is an obvious continuum close to $(π,0)$ in the Brillouin zone indicating the deconfined spin-1/2 spinon excitations. In the stripe phase for $J_{2}\gtrsim0.6J_{1}$, we find similar high-energy two-spinon continuums at $(π/2,π/2)$ and $(π/2,π)$, r…
Confinement and deconfinement of spinons in a frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg model
在这篇文章中，我讨论了A. A. Nersesyan和A. M. Tsvelik，Phys. Rev. B{ \bf 67}，024422（2003）。相图包含由价键晶体（VBC）状态分离的$(π,0)$和$(π,π)$反铁磁相。我认为，在上述工作中预测的解除限制自旋的相图的点，位于VBC状态的中间，在二聚序参量改变符号的点。
Tuning the confinement potential between spinons in the Ising chain CoNb2O6 using longitudinal fields and quantitative determination of the microscopic Hamiltonian
The elementary excitations from the conventional magnetic ordered states, such as ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, are magnons. Here, we elaborate a case where the well-defined magnons are absent completely and the spin excitation spectra exhibit an entire continuum in the itinerant edge ferromagnetic state of graphene arising from the flatband edge electronic states. Based on the further studies of the entanglement entropy and finite-size analysis, we show that the continuum other than the Stoner part results from the spin-1/2 spinons deconfined from magnons. The spinon continuum in a magne…
The infinite Heisenberg XXZ spin-(1/2) chain in the gapped antiferromagnetic regime has two degenerate vacua and kink topological excitations (which are also called spinons) interpolating between these vacua as elementary excitations. Application of an arbitrary weak staggered longitudinal magnetic field h induces a long-range attractive potential between two adjacent spinons leading to their confinement into 'meson' bound states. Exploiting the integrability of the XXZ model in the deconfined phase h = 0, we perform perturbative calculations of the energy spectra of the two-spinon bound state…
We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to study a quantum $S=1/2$ spin model with competing multi-spin interactions. We find a quantum phase transition between a columnar valence-bond solid (cVBS) and a Néel antiferromagnet (AFM), as in the scenario of deconfined quantum-critical points, as well as a transition between the AFM and a staggered valence-bond solid (sVBS). By continuously varying a parameter, the sVBS--AFM and AFM--cVBS boundaries merge into a direct sVBS--cVBS transition. Unlike previous models with putative deconfined AFM--cVBS transitions, e.g., the standard $J$-$Q$ model, in o…
