Dynamical Structure Factor of the Three-Dimensional Quantum Spin Liquid Candidate NaCaNi_{2}F_{7}.

ABSTRACT

We study the dynamical structure factor of the spin-1 pyrochlore material NaCaNi_{2}F_{7}, which is well described by a weakly perturbed nearest-neighbour Heisenberg Hamiltonian, Our three approaches-molecular dynamics simulations, stochastic dynamical theory, and linear spin wave theory-reproduce remarkably well the momentum dependence of the experimental inelastic neutron scattering intensity as well as its energy dependence with the exception of the lowest energies. We discuss two surprising aspects and their implications for quantum spin liquids in general the complete lack of sharp quasiparticle excitations in momentum space and the success of the linear spin wave theory in a regime where it would be expected to fail for several reasons.