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Algebraic spin liquid as the mother of many competing orders

Michael Hermele·T. Senthil·Matthew P. A. Fisher
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Abstract

We study the properties of a class of two-dimensional interacting critical states -- dubbed algebraic spin liquids -- that can arise in two-dimensional quantum magnets. A particular example that we focus on is the staggered flux spin liquid, which plays a key role in some theories of underdoped cuprate superconductors. We show that the low-energy theory of such states has much higher symmetry than the underlying microscopic spin system. This symmetry has remarkable consequences, leading in particular to the unification of a number of seemingly unrelated competing orders. The correlations of these orders -- including, in the staggered flux state, the Neel vector and the order parameter for the columnar and box valence-bond solid states -- all exhibit the SAME slow power-law decay. Implications for experiments in the pseudogap regime of the cuprates and for numerical calculations on model systems are discussed.

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Michael Hermele, T. Senthil, Matthew P. A. Fisher. 2005-07-25. Algebraic spin liquid as the mother of many competing orders. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.72.104404

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