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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Coulombic antiferromagnet in spin-1/2 pyrochlores with dipole-octupole doublets

Gang Chen

  • International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Department of Physics and HKU-UCAS Joint Institute for Theoretical and Computational Physics at Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; and Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L032027 – Published 25 August, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L032027

Abstract

An exotic state of matter could coexist with conventional orders such that the gauge fields and fractionalized excitations could prevail in a seemingly ordered state. We explore the Coulombic antiferromagnet in the spin-1/2 pyrochlores with dipole-octupole doublets. This fractionalized antiferromagnetic state carries both antiferromagnetic order and emergent quantum electrodynamics with the gapless gauge photon and fractionalized quasiparticles. We explain the characteristic physical properties, including the thermodynamics and the dynamics of this exotic state. This includes, for example, the anomalously large T3 specific heat and the broad spinon continuum in the inelastic neutron scattering. We discuss the experimental and material's relevance and expect this work to inspire interests in the search of exotic physics among the ordered magnets.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 5, L032027– Published 25 August, 2023
  • Received 29 August 2022
  • Revised 4 December 2022
  • Accepted 2 August 2023
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