Quantum loop and dimer models are prototypical correlated systems with local constraints, which are not only intimately connected to lattice gauge theories and topological orders but are also widely applicable to the broad research areas of quantum materials and quantum simulation. Employing our sweeping cluster quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, we reveal the complete phase diagram of the triangular-lattice fully packed quantum loop model. Apart from the known lattice nematic (LN) solid and the even $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquid (QSL) phases, we discover a hidden vison plaquette (VP) phase, which had been overlooked and misinterpreted as a QSL for more than a decade. Moreover, the VP-to-QSL continuous transition belongs to the $(2+1)$D cubic* universality class, which offers a lattice realization of the (fractionalized) cubic fixed point that had long been considered as irrelevant towards the O($3$) symmetry until corrected recently by conformal bootstrap calculations. Our results are therefore of relevance to recent developments in both experiments and theory, and facilitate further investigations of hidden phases and transitions.
Perfectly hidden order and Z2 confinement transition in a fully packed monopole liquid
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）；Universität Zürich（苏黎世大学）；Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), UNLP-CONICET（拉普拉塔液体与生物系统物理研究所 (IFLYSIB)，UNLP-CONICET）；Universidad Nacional de La Plata（拉普拉塔国立大学）；ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique（里昂高等师范学校，法国国家科学研究中心，物理实验室）；French American Center for Theoretical Science, CNRS, KITP, Santa Barbara（美法理论科学中心，法国国家科学研究中心，加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校KITP）；CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, LOMA, UMR 5798（法国国家科学研究中心，波尔多大学，LOMA联合研究单位5798）
Motivated by the recent development in strong spin-orbit-coupled materials, we consider the dipole-octupole doublets on the triangular lattice. We propose the most general interaction between these unusual local moments. Due to the spin-orbit entanglement and the special form of its wavefunction, the dipole-octupole doublet has a rather peculiar property under the lattice symmetry operation. As a result, the interaction is highly anisotropic in the pseudospin space, but remarkably, is uniform spatially. We analyze the ground state properties of this generic model and emphasize the hidden multi…
A phase transition is often accompanied by the appearance of an order parameter and symmetry breaking. Certain magnetic materials exhibit exotic hidden-order phases, in which the order parameters are not directly accessible to conventional magnetic measurements. Thus, experimental identification and theoretical understanding of a hidden order are difficult. Here we combine neutron scattering and thermodynamic probes to study the newly discovered rare-earth triangular-lattice magnet TmMgGaO$_4$. Clear magnetic Bragg peaks at K points are observed in the elastic neutron diffraction measurements.…
We study the magnetism of a quantum spin-1/2 antiferromagnet on a maple-leaf lattice which is obtained by regularly depleting 1/7 of the sites of a triangular lattice. Although the interactions are set to be spatially uniform, the ground state shows a stripe Neel order and the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility follows that of the one-dimensional XXZ model with a finite spin gap. We examine the nature of frustration by mapping the low energy degenerate manifold of states to the fully packed loop-string model on a dual cluster-depleted honeycomb lattice, finding that the order-by…
Hidden antiferromagnetism, persistent valley fluctuations, and $U(6)$ crossovers in triangular-lattice M-point moiré materials via determinantal quantum Monte Carlo
University of Oxford（牛津大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für Physik Komplexer Systeme（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）
We study the effects of quantum fluctuations on the dynamical generation of a gap and on the evolution of the spin-wave spectra of a frustrated magnet on a triangular lattice with bond-dependent Ising couplings, analog of the Kitaev honeycomb model. The quantum fluctuations lift the subextensive degeneracy of the classical ground-state manifold by a quantum order-by-disorder mechanism. Nearest-neighbor chains remain decoupled and the surviving discrete degeneracy of the ground state is protected by a hidden model symmetry. We show how the four-spin interaction, emergent from the fluctuations, …
Large-gap quantum spin Hall insulators are promising materials for room-temperature applications based on Dirac fermions. Key to engineer the topologically non-trivial band ordering and sizable band gaps is strong spin-orbit interaction. Following Kane and Mele's original suggestion, one approach is to synthesize monolayers of heavy atoms with honeycomb coordination accommodated on templates with hexagonal symmetry. Yet, in the majority of cases, this recipe leads to triangular lattices, typically hosting metals or trivial insulators. Here, we conceive and realize "indenene", a triangular mono…
Phononic enhancement and detection of hidden spin-nematicity and dynamics in quantum magnets
International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院量子材料国际中心）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter（量子物质协同创新中心）
We construct a multi-band Hubbard model on the lattice obtained by "decorating" a closely packed $d$-dimensional lattice $\mathcal{M}$ (such as the triangular lattice) where $d\ge2$. We take the limits in which the Coulomb interaction and the band gap become infinitely large. Then there remains only a single band with finite energy, on which electrons are supported. Let the electron number be $N_\mathrm{e}=|\mathcal{M}|-N_\mathrm{h}$, where $|\mathcal{M}|$ corresponds to the electron number which makes the lowest (finite energy) band half-filled, and $N_\mathrm{h}$ is the number of "holes". It…
We develop a microscopic theory of multipole interactions and orderings in 5$d^2$ transition metal ion compounds. In a cubic environment, the ground state of 5$d^2$ ions is a non-Kramers $E_g$ doublet, which is nonmagnetic but hosts quadrupole and octupole moments. We derive pseudospin one-half Hamiltonians describing various spin-orbital exchange processes between these ions. Direct overlap of the $t_{2g}$ orbitals results in bond-dependent pseudospin interactions similar to those for $e_g$ orbitals in manganites. The superexchange process via oxygen ions generates new types of pairwise inter…
