Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids
Several experimental candidates for quantum spin liquids have been discovered in the past few years which appear to support gapless fermionic S=1/2 excitations called spinons. The spinons may form a Fermi sea coupled to a U(1) gauge field, and may undergo a pairing instability. We show that despite...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Physical Society
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64471 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7809-8157 |
| _version_ | 1811098225775476736 |
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| author | Zhou, Yi Lee, Patrick A. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Zhou, Yi Lee, Patrick A. |
| author_sort | Zhou, Yi |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Several experimental candidates for quantum spin liquids have been discovered in the past few years which appear to support gapless fermionic S=1/2 excitations called spinons. The spinons may form a Fermi sea coupled to a U(1) gauge field, and may undergo a pairing instability. We show that despite being charge neutral, the spinons couple to phonons in exactly the same way that electrons do in the long wavelength limit. Therefore, we can use sound attenuation to measure the spinon mass and lifetime. Furthermore, transverse ultrasonic attenuation is a direct probe of the onset of pairing because the Meissner effect of the gauge field causes a “rapid fall” of the attenuation at Tc [T subscript c] in addition to the reduction due to the opening of the energy gap. This phenomenon, well known in clean superconductors, may reveal the existence of the U(1) gauge field. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:11:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/64471 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:11:33Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/644712022-10-03T11:03:38Z Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids Zhou, Yi Lee, Patrick A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Lee, Patrick A. Lee, Patrick A. Several experimental candidates for quantum spin liquids have been discovered in the past few years which appear to support gapless fermionic S=1/2 excitations called spinons. The spinons may form a Fermi sea coupled to a U(1) gauge field, and may undergo a pairing instability. We show that despite being charge neutral, the spinons couple to phonons in exactly the same way that electrons do in the long wavelength limit. Therefore, we can use sound attenuation to measure the spinon mass and lifetime. Furthermore, transverse ultrasonic attenuation is a direct probe of the onset of pairing because the Meissner effect of the gauge field causes a “rapid fall” of the attenuation at Tc [T subscript c] in addition to the reduction due to the opening of the energy gap. This phenomenon, well known in clean superconductors, may reveal the existence of the U(1) gauge field. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMR-0804040) National Natural Science Foundation (China) (No. 11074218) Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (973 program no. 2011CBA00103) 2011-06-16T20:51:03Z 2011-06-16T20:51:03Z 2011-02 2010-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0031-9007 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64471 Zhou, Yi, and Patrick Lee. “Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids.” Physical Review Letters 106.5 (2011) : n. pag. © 2011 American Physical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7809-8157 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.056402 Physical review letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Physical Society APS |
| spellingShingle | Zhou, Yi Lee, Patrick A. Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids |
| title | Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids |
| title_full | Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids |
| title_fullStr | Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids |
| title_short | Spinon Phonon Interaction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Quantum Spin Liquids |
| title_sort | spinon phonon interaction and ultrasonic attenuation in quantum spin liquids |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64471 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7809-8157 |
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