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  • Letter

Hidden phases born of a quantum spin liquid: Application to pyrochlore spin ice

Hyeok-Jun Yang1,*, Nic Shannon2,†, and SungBin Lee1,‡

  • 1Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
  • 2Theory of Quantum Matter Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0412, Japan

  • *yang267814@kaist.ac.kr
  • †nic.shannon@oist.jp
  • ‡sungbin@kaist.ac.kr

Phys. Rev. B 104, L100403 – Published 7 September, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.L100403

Abstract

Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) have generated considerable excitement as phases of matter with emergent gauge structures and fractionalized excitations. In this context, phase transitions out of QSLs have been widely discussed as Higgs transitions from deconfined to confined phases of a lattice gauge theory. However, the possibility of a wider range of novel phases, occurring between these two limits, has yet to be systematically explored. In this Research Letter, we develop a formalism which allows for interactions between fractionalized quasiparticles coming from the constraint on the physical Hilbert space and can be used to search for exotic, hidden phases. Taking pyrochlore spin ice as a starting point, we show how a U(1) QSL can give birth to abundant daughter phases, without the need for fine-tuning of parameters. These include a (charged) Z2 QSL and a supersolid. We discuss implications for experiment, and numerical results which support our analysis. These results are of broad relevance to QSLs subject to a parton description and offer a useful perspective in the search for exotic hidden phases in quantum magnets.

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