Spinon Walk in Quantum Spin Ice

Yuan Wan, Juan Carrasquilla, and Roger G. Melko
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 167202 – Published 22 April 2016
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Abstract

We study a minimal model for the dynamics of spinons in quantum spin ice. The model captures the essential strong coupling between the spinon and the disordered background spins. We demonstrate that the spinon motion can be mapped to a random walk with an entropy-induced memory in imaginary time. Our numerical simulation of the spinon walk indicates that the spinon propagates as a massive quasiparticle at low energy despite its strong coupling to the spin background at the microscopic energy scale. We discuss the experimental implications of our findings.

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  • Received 9 October 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.167202

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Yuan Wan1, Juan Carrasquilla1, and Roger G. Melko1,2

  • 1Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada

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Issue

Vol. 116, Iss. 16 — 22 April 2016

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