Emergent many-body composite excitations of interacting spin-1/2 trimers.

Understanding exotic forms of magnetism in quantum spin systems is an emergent topic of modern condensed matter physics. Quantum dynamics can be described by particle-like carriers of information, known-as quasiparticles that appear from the collective behaviour of the underlying system. Spinon excitations, governing the excitations of quantum spin-systems, have been accurately calculated and precisely verified experimentally for the antiferromagnetic chain model. However, identification and characterization of novel quasiparticles emerging from the topological excitations of the spin system having periodic exchange interactions are yet to be obtained. Here, we report the identification of emergent composite excitations of the novel quasiparticles doublons and quartons in spin-1/2 trimer-chain antiferromagnet Na2Cu3Ge4O12 (having periodic intrachain exchange interactions J1-J1-J2) and its topologically protected quantum 1/3 magnetization-plateau state. The characteristic energies, dispersion relations, and dynamical structure factor of neutron scattering as well as macroscopic quantum 1/3 magnetization-plateau state are in good agreement with the state-of-the-art dynamical density matrix renormalization group calculations.

Cluster spin-glass-like dynamics in Mn-rich La2Ni0.5Mn1.5O6ferromagnetic insulator.

We report on the physical properties of Mn-rich, nonstoichiometric La2Ni0.5Mn1.5O6ferromagnetic insulator, prepared by sol-gel method. The single-phase orthorhombicPbnmstructure for the compound was confirmed by x-ray diffraction measurements. Dc magnetization measurements revealed a high saturation magnetization of ∼5.95 µB/f.u. at 5 K, and a ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition at ∼162 K. Ac magnetic susceptibility measurements confirmed a broad frequency-dependent anomaly at lower temperatures indicating the presence of spin-glass type magnetic interactions. The ac susceptibility data have been discussed within the framework of the critical slowing down model and Vogel-Fulcher law, and confirmed the cluster spin-glass dynamics with a relaxation time of the order of 10-5 s. The valence of Ni and Mn ions was verified from the x-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy. The origin of cluster spin-glass state was discussed in terms of several possible magnetic exchange interaction pathways among Ni and Mn ions.

Experimental observation of Bethe strings.

Almost a century ago, string states-complex bound states of magnetic excitations-were predicted to exist in one-dimensional quantum magnets. However, despite many theoretical studies, the experimental realization and identification of string states in a condensed-matter system have yet to be achieved. Here we use high-resolution terahertz spectroscopy to resolve string states in the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg-Ising chain SrCo2V2O8 in strong longitudinal magnetic fields. In the field-induced quantum-critical regime, we identify strings and fractional magnetic excitations that are accurately described by the Bethe ansatz. Close to quantum criticality, the string excitations govern the quantum spin dynamics, whereas the fractional excitations, which are dominant at low energies, reflect the antiferromagnetic quantum fluctuations. Today, Bethe's result is important not only in the field of quantum magnetism but also more broadly, including in the study of cold atoms and in string theory; hence, we anticipate that our work will shed light on the study of complex many-body systems in general.