Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Uniaxial and biaxial spin nematic phases induced by quantum fluctuations
Jun Liang Song1, Gordon W Semenoff, Fei Zhou
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T1Z1.
Abstract:
It is shown that zero point quantum fluctuations completely lift the accidental continuous degeneracy that is found in mean field analysis of quantum spin nematic phases of hyperfine spin-2 cold atoms. The result is two distinct ground states which have higher symmetries: a uniaxial spin nematic and a biaxial spin nematic with dihedral symmetry Dih4. There is a novel first-order quantum phase transition between the two phases as atomic scattering lengths are varied. We find that the ground state of 87Rb atoms should be a uniaxial spin nematic. We note that the energy barrier between the phases could be observable in dynamical experiments.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Magnetic Moment
Interpreting ¹H NMR Signal Splitting: The (n + 1) Rule
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
¹H NMR: Interpreting Distorted and Overlapping Signals
As Δν decreases and the signals move closer, the doublets appear increasingly distorted. The intensities of the inner lines increase at the cost of those of the outer lines as the signals are slanted or...

