Dynamical Signature of Symmetry Fractionalization in Frustrated Magnets

Guang-Yu Sun, Yan-Cheng Wang, Chen Fang, Yang Qi, Meng Cheng, and Zi Yang Meng
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 077201 – Published 14 August 2018
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Abstract

The nontriviality of quantum spin liquids (QSLs) typically manifests in the nonlocal observables that signify their existence; however, this fact actually casts a shadow on detecting QSLs with experimentally accessible probes. Here, we provide a solution by unbiasedly demonstrating a dynamical signature of anyonic excitations and symmetry fractionalization in QSLs. Employing large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulation and stochastic analytic continuation, we investigate the extended XXZ model on the kagome lattice, and find out that, across the phase transitions from Z2 QSLs to different symmetry breaking phases, spin spectral functions can reveal the presence and condensation of emergent anyonic spinon and vison excitations, in particular, the translational symmetry fractionalization of the latter, which can be served as the dynamical signature of the seemingly ephemeral QSLs in spectroscopic techniques such as inelastic neutron or resonance (inelastic) x-ray scatterings.

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  • Received 5 April 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.077201

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Guang-Yu Sun1,2, Yan-Cheng Wang3, Chen Fang1,4, Yang Qi5,6,7, Meng Cheng8, and Zi Yang Meng1,4

  • 1Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 2School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 3School of Physical Science and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
  • 4CAS Center of Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation and School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 5Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 6State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 7Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 8Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8120, USA

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Issue

Vol. 121, Iss. 7 — 17 August 2018

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