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Spinon confinement and a sharp longitudinal mode in Yb2Pt2Pb in magnetic fields
W J Gannon1,2, I A Zaliznyak3, L S Wu4,5
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA. william.gannon@ubc.ca.
Nature Communications
|March 10, 2019
Summary
Researchers observed how magnetic fields close excitation gaps in Yb2Pt2Pb spin chains, creating a critical Luttinger-liquid state. This reveals spinon confinement, analogous to quark confinement in quantum chromodynamics.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Magnetism
- Materials Science
Background:
- Antiferromagnetic chains with spins-1/2 exhibit fundamental excitations called spinons.
- In Ising-like spin chains, these spinons form a gapped triplet excitation continuum, with a Néel ordered ground state.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of magnetic fields on the excitation spectrum of Yb2Pt2Pb spin chains.
- To understand the transition to a critical, disordered Luttinger-liquid state.
Main Methods:
- High-resolution neutron scattering experiments were performed on Yb2Pt2Pb.
- Time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (TD DMRG) calculations were employed.
Main Results:
- A magnetic field was found to close the excitation gap in the spin chains.
- This transition drives the system into a critical, disordered Luttinger-liquid state.
- Spinon confinement was observed, analogous to quark confinement.
Conclusions:
- The study demonstrates how magnetic fields can tune the properties of spin chains.
- The findings provide insights into the nature of fractional excitations and confinement in condensed matter systems.
- A gapless, dispersive longitudinal mode arising from confinement was identified.
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