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arXiv · 2602.23362

Arrested Relaxation in a Disorder-Free Coulomb Spin Liquid

Souvik Kundu·Arnab Seth·Sthitadhi Roy·Subhro Bhattacharjee·Roderich Moessner
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Abstract

We investigate Coulomb spin liquids in classical spin-3/2 ice and show that the enlarged on-site Hilbert space gives rise to a qualitatively new class of such phases. Beyond the conventional magnetic monopoles of spin-1/2 ice, the system hosts additional low-energy crystal-field excitations, whose interplay with monopoles significantly modifies both equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties. Following a thermal quench, we find a pronounced dynamical arrest manifested in an exponentially long-lived {athermal} plateau in spin autocorrelations. This constitutes a rare example of dynamical arrest in a short-range interacting, disorder-free system. We demonstrate that the arrested dynamics originate from novel composite excitation structures unique to spin-3/2 ice and from kinetically constrained relaxation pathways that require activated processes. Our results establish higher-spin ice as a fertile platform for realising unconventional Coulomb spin liquids and dynamical arrest without quenched disorder.

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Souvik Kundu, Arnab Seth, Sthitadhi Roy, Subhro Bhattacharjee, Roderich Moessner. 2026-02-26. Arrested Relaxation in a Disorder-Free Coulomb Spin Liquid. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23362

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