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arXiv · 0912.4531

The "Coulomb phase" in frustrated systems

Christopher L. Henley
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Abstract

The "Coulomb phase" is an emergent state for lattice models (particularly highly frustrated antiferromagnets) which have local constraints that can be mapped to a divergence-free "flux". The coarse-grained version of this flux or polarization behave analogously to electric or magnetic fields; in particular, defects at which the local constraint is violated behave as effective charges with Coulomb interactions. I survey the derivation of the characteristic power-law correlation functions and the pinch-points in reciprocal space plots of diffuse scattering, as well as applications to magnetic relaxation, quantum-mechanical generalizations, phase transitions to long-range-ordered states, and the effects of disorder.

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Christopher L. Henley. 2009-12-22. The "Coulomb phase" in frustrated systems. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-070909-104138

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