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Dynamic Scaling Theory for a Field Quench near the Kasteleyn Transition in Spin Ice

Stephen Powell1 and Sukla Pal1,2

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 256701 – Published 23 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/b9gd-y4y6

Abstract

We present a dynamic scaling theory to describe relaxation dynamics following a magnetic-field quench near an unconventional phase transition in the magnetic material spin ice. Starting from a microscopic model, we derive an effective description for the critical dynamics in terms of the seeding and growth of string excitations, and use this to find scaling forms in terms of time, reduced temperature, and monopole fugacity. We confirm the predictions of scaling theory using Monte Carlo simulations, which also show good quantitative agreement with analytical expressions valid in the limit of low monopole density. As well as being relevant for experiments in the spin ice materials, our results open the way for the study of dynamic critical properties in a family of unconventional classical phase transitions.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 256701– Published 23 June, 2025
  • Received 16 January 2025
  • Accepted 23 May 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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