"Bose Condensation" in Strongly Spin-Orbit Coupled Dimer Magnets

Speaker: Michael Flynn, UCDavis

When: January 14, 2021 (Thu), 11:00AM to 12:00PM (add to my calendar)

This event is part of the Biophysics/Condensed Matter Seminar Series.

In recent decades, frustrated magnetic systems have been studied as hosts of some of the most exotic strongly correlated phases of matter ever discovered. Among these systems, quantum dimer magnets offer an environment in which to study Bose Einstein Condensation transitions, where an external magnetic field plays the role of the chemical potential. Recently, the dimer compound Ytterbium Silicate (Yb Si O ) was found to exhibit violations of the now-paradigmatic dimer magnet phase diagram. In particular, evidence was obtained for an unexpected field-induced phase transition to a state with an unknown order. With a variety of techniques, we will show that this empirical data is captured by a simple model of dimerized spins which weakly breaks lattice inversion symmetry. We will offer predictions for the order underlying the "mystery" phase, and natural empirical tests of these predictions will be discussed. Finally, we will make perturbative connections between this model and XYZ Heisenberg models; alternative formulations of this physics include models of fermions in one dimension, and hard-core bosons in higher dimensions.

Join on Zoom: https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/92475298654?pwd=anpJMDFST0w2TEJvMThHNTA0VHJSQT09