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arXiv · 1003.4896

Spin ice under pressure: symmetry enhancement and infinite order multicriticality

Ludovic D. C. Jaubert·J. T. Chalker·Peter C. W. Holdsworth·R. Moessner
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Abstract

We study the low-temperature behaviour of spin ice when uniaxial pressure induces a tetragonal distortion. There is a phase transition between a Coulomb liquid and a fully magnetised phase. Unusually, it combines features of discontinuous and continuous transitions: the order parameter exhibits a jump, but this is accompanied by a divergent susceptibility and vanishing domain wall tension. All these aspects can be understood as a consequence of an emergent SU(2) symmetry at the critical point. We map out a possible experimental realisation.

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Ludovic D. C. Jaubert, J. T. Chalker, Peter C. W. Holdsworth, R. Moessner. 2010-03-25. Spin ice under pressure: symmetry enhancement and infinite order multicriticality. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.105.087201

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