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Correlation holes and slow dynamics induced by fractional statistics in gapped quantum spin liquids

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Wan, Yuan 
Castelnovo, Claudio  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1752-6343

Abstract

Abstract: Realistic model Hamiltonians for quantum spin liquids frequently exhibit a large separation of energy scales between their elementary excitations. At intermediate, experimentally relevant temperatures, some excitations are sparse and hop coherently, whereas others are thermally incoherent and dense. Here, we study the interplay of two such species of quasiparticle, dubbed spinons and visons, which are subject to nontrivial mutual statistics – one of the hallmarks of quantum spin liquid behaviour. Our results for Z2 quantum spin liquids show an intriguing feedback mechanism, akin to the Nagaoka effect, whereby spinons become localised on temperature-dependent patches of expelled visons. This phenomenon has important consequences for the thermodynamic and transport properties of the system, as well as for its response to quenches in temperature. We argue that these effects can be measured in experiments and may provide viable avenues for obtaining signatures of quantum spin liquid behaviour.

Description

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant No.~11974396 and Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No.~XDB33020300

Keywords

Article, /639/766/119/997, /639/766/119/2792/4129, /129, /119, /141, article

Journal Title

Nature Communications

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2041-1723

Volume Title

12

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group UK
Sponsorship
RCUK | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/P034616/1, EP/M007065/1)