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Studies of Spinons, Majoranas, and Monopoles in Spin Liquid and Quantum Critical Magnets with Neutrons...

by David A Tennant
Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan
Publication Date
Page Number
081009
Volume
88
Issue
8

Quantum and frustrated materials have outstanding potential for the future with the promise of transformative properties in energy storage, conversion, and transmission as well as for new types of computing. Many of the new materials being explored are proposed to have highly unusual ground states that show quantum critical behavior or exotic disorder such as spin liquids. Intense interest is focused on the unusual types of fractionalized quasiparticles that these phases can support such as spin-1/2 spinons, Majorana fermions, and magnetic monopoles. Neutron scattering provides a remarkable tool for probing quantum and frustrated states of real magnetic system by measuring the structure and dynamics of atomic spins on the important energy scales involved. Here I review the signatures of these unusual quasiparticles and the evidence for them starting with quasi-1D magnets covering fractionalization of magnons into spinons, confinement effects, and three classes of quantum critical behavior. In 2D I discuss the status of quantum spin liquids in triangular and Kagome magnets before considering the current evidence for exotic Majorana fermions in materials that approximate the Kitaev model. Following this I outline the current status of research into magnetic monopoles in 3D spin ice and the potential for emergent electrodynamics in quantum spin ice. Finally, I consider where new developments in materials, experiment, and theory and modeling could lead to new discoveries.