Abstract
We carry out an analytical study of quantum spin ice, a quantum spin liquid close to the classical spin-ice solution for an effective spin- model with anisotropic exchange couplings , , and on the pyrochlore lattice. Starting from the quantum rotor model introduced by Savary and Balents [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 037202 (2012)], we retain the dynamics of both the spinons and gauge field sectors in our treatment. The spinons are described by a bosonic representation of quantum XY rotors, while the dynamics of the gauge field is captured by a phenomenological Hamiltonian. By calculating the one-loop spinon self-energy, which is proportional to , we determine the stability region of the quantum spin-liquid phase in the versus zero-temperature phase diagram. From these results, we estimate the location of the boundaries between the spin-liquid phase and classical long-range ordered phases.
- Received 17 September 2014
- Revised 19 November 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.214430
©2014 American Physical Society