Experimentally tunable QED in dipolar-octupolar quantum spin ice

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Hauptverfasser: Sanders, Alaric, Yan, Han, Castelnovo, Claudio, Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Sanders, Alaric
Yan, Han
Castelnovo, Claudio
Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.
author_facet Sanders, Alaric
Yan, Han
Castelnovo, Claudio
Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.
contents We propose a readily achievable experimental setting where an external magnetic field is used to tune the emergent quantum electrodynamics (eQED) of dipolar-octupolar quantum spin ice (DO-QSI). In $U(1)_π$ DO-QSI -- the proposed ground state of QSI candidates Ce$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$, Ce$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ and Ce$_2$Hf$_2$O$_7$ -- we show that the field can be used to control the emergent speed of light (and, consequently, the emergent fine structure constant). Depending on the field's alignment with the crystal, one may induce different speeds for the two polarizations of the emergent photons, in a fascinating analogue of the electro-optic Kerr effect. In $U(1)_0$ DO-QSI -- yet to be uncovered experimentally -- we find a number of unusual field-induced transitions, including a transition between $0$- and $π$-flux QSI phases, as well as phases with frustrated flux configurations. We discuss experimental signatures of these effects in the spinon excitation spectrum, which can be readily accessed for instance in inelastic neutron scattering measurements. Our proposal opens the gate to a plethora of experimentally accessible, engineerable eQED phenomena in the emergent universes of quantum spin ice.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_11641
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Experimentally tunable QED in dipolar-octupolar quantum spin ice
Sanders, Alaric
Yan, Han
Castelnovo, Claudio
Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.
Strongly Correlated Electrons
We propose a readily achievable experimental setting where an external magnetic field is used to tune the emergent quantum electrodynamics (eQED) of dipolar-octupolar quantum spin ice (DO-QSI). In $U(1)_π$ DO-QSI -- the proposed ground state of QSI candidates Ce$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$, Ce$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ and Ce$_2$Hf$_2$O$_7$ -- we show that the field can be used to control the emergent speed of light (and, consequently, the emergent fine structure constant). Depending on the field's alignment with the crystal, one may induce different speeds for the two polarizations of the emergent photons, in a fascinating analogue of the electro-optic Kerr effect. In $U(1)_0$ DO-QSI -- yet to be uncovered experimentally -- we find a number of unusual field-induced transitions, including a transition between $0$- and $π$-flux QSI phases, as well as phases with frustrated flux configurations. We discuss experimental signatures of these effects in the spinon excitation spectrum, which can be readily accessed for instance in inelastic neutron scattering measurements. Our proposal opens the gate to a plethora of experimentally accessible, engineerable eQED phenomena in the emergent universes of quantum spin ice.
title Experimentally tunable QED in dipolar-octupolar quantum spin ice
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.11641