Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review B

Anomalous dynamical line shapes in a quantum magnet at finite temperature

D. M. Tennant, B. Lake, A. J. A. James, Fabian H. L. Eßler, S. Notbohm, H.-J. Mikeska, John Fielden, Paul Kögerler, Paul C. Canfield, Mark T. F. Telling

Published Jan 4, 2012• 38 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The effect of thermal fluctuations on the dynamics of a gapped quantum magnet is studied using inelastic neutron scattering on copper nitrate, a model material for the spin-1/2, one-dimensional (1D) bond alternating Heisenberg chain. A large, highly deuterated, single-crystal sample of copper nitrate is produced using a solution growth method and measurements are made using the high-resolution backscattering spectrometer OSIRIS at the ISIS Facility. Theoretical calculations and numerical analysis are combined to interpret the physical origin of the thermal effects observed in the magnetic spectra. The primary observations are (1) a thermally induced central peak due to intraband scattering, which is similar to Villain scattering familiar from soliton systems in 1D, and (2) the one-magnon quasiparticle pole is seen to develop with temperature into an asymmetric continuum of scattering. We relate this asymmetric line broadening to a thermal strongly correlated state caused by hard-core constraints and quasiparticle interactions. These findings are a counter example to recent assertions of the universality of line broadening in 1D systems and are applicable to a broad range of quantum systems.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.85.014402

Related papers

On thermal fluctuations in quantum magnets

D. M. Tennant, S. Notbohm, B. Lake +7 more

The effect of thermal fluctuations on the dynamics of a gapped quantum magnet is studied using inelastic neutron scattering on copper nitrate, a model material for the one-dimensional (1D) bond alternating Heisenberg chain, combined with theoretical and numerical analysis. We observe and interpret the thermally induced central peak due to intraband scattering as well as the thermal development of an asymmetric continuum of scattering. We relate this asymmetric line broadening to hard core constraints and quasi-particle interactions. Our findings are a counter example to recent assertions of universality of line broadening in 1D systems and are to be considered as a new paradigm of behaviour, applicable to a broad range of quantum systems.

arXiv:0907.2067•Jul 12, 2009•2 citations

Anomalous thermal decoherence in a quantum magnet measured with neutron spin echo spectroscopy

Felix Groitl, T. Keller, Katharina Rolfs +2 more

The effect of temperature dependent asymmetric line broadening is investigated in $\mathrm{Cu}({\mathrm{NO}}_{3}{)}_{2}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}2.5{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$, a model material for a one-dimensional bond alternating Heisenberg chain, using the high resolution neutron-resonance spin echo (NRSE) technique. Inelastic neutron scattering experiments on dispersive excitations including phase sensitive measurements demonstrate the potential of NRSE to resolve line shapes, which are non-Lorentzian, opening up a new and hitherto unexplored class of experiments for the NRSE method beyond standard linewidth measurements. The particular advantage of NRSE is its direct access to the correlations in the time domain without convolution with the resolution function of the background spectrometer. This application of NRSE is very promising and establishes a basis for further experiments on different systems, since the results for Cu(${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}$)${}_{2}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}2.5{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ are applicable to a broad range of quantum systems.

arXiv:1602.08223•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Apr 4, 2016•7 citations

Evidence for strong correlations at finite temperatures in the dimerized magnet Na2Cu2TeO6

Yanyan Shangguan, Song Bao, Zhao-Yang Dong +12 more

Dimerized magnets forming alternating Heisenberg chains exhibit quantum coherence and entanglement and thus can find potential applications in quantum information and computation. However, magnetic systems typically undergo thermal decoherence at finite temperatures. Here, we show inelastic neutron scattering results on an alternating antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic chain compound ${\mathrm{Na}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{TeO}}_{6}$ that the excited quasiparticles can counter thermal decoherence and maintain strong correlations at elevated temperatures. At low temperatures, we observe clear dispersive singlet-triplet excitations arising from the dimers formed along the crystalline $b$ axis. The excitation gap is of $\ensuremath{\sim}18\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{meV}$ and the bandwidth is about half of the gap. The band top energy has a weak modulation along the [100] direction, indicative of a small interchain coupling. The gap increases while the bandwidth decreases with increasing temperature, leading to a strong reduction in the available phase space for the triplons. As a result, the Lorentzian-type energy broadening becomes highly asymmetric as the temperature is raised. These results are associated with a strongly correlated state resulting from hard-core constraint and quasiparticle interactions. We consider these results to be not only evidence for strong correlations at finite temperatures in ${\mathrm{Na}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{TeO}}_{6}$, but also for the universality of the strongly correlated state in a broad range of quantum magnetic systems.

arXiv:2202.05467•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Dec 27, 2021•4 citations

Finite-temperature dynamics and thermal intraband magnon scattering in Haldane spin-one chains

J. Becker, Thomas Köhler, Alexander C. Tiegel +3 more

The antiferromagnetic spin-one chain is considerably one of the most fundamental quantum many-body systems, with symmetry-protected topological order in the ground state. Here, we present results for its dynamical spin structure factor at finite temperatures, based on a combination of exact numerical diagonalization, matrix-product-state calculations, and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Open finite chains exhibit a subgap band in the thermal spectral functions, indicative of localized edge states. Moreover, we observe the thermal activation of a distinct low-energy continuum contribution to the spin spectral function with an enhanced spectral weight at low momenta and its upper threshold. This emerging thermal spectral feature of the Haldane spin-one chain is shown to result from intraband magnon scattering due to the thermal population of the single-magnon branch, which features a large bandwidth-to-gap ratio. These findings are discussed with respect to possible future studies on spin-one chain compounds based on inelastic neutron scattering.

arXiv:1703.04652•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Aug 3, 2017•24 citations

Finite-temperature dynamics of the spin- 12 bond alternating Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain

H.-J. Mikeska, C. Luckmann

We present results for the dynamic structure factor of the $S=1∕2$ bond alternating Heisenberg chain over a large range of frequencies and temperatures. Data are obtained from a numerical evaluation of thermal averages based on the calculation of all eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for chains of up to 20 spins. Interpretation is guided by the exact temperature dependence in the noninteracting dimer limit which remains qualitatively valid up to an interdimer exchange $\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\approx}0.5$. The temperature induced central peak around zero frequency is clearly identified and aspects of the crossover to spin diffusion in its variation from low to high temperatures are discussed. The one-magnon peak acquires an asymmetric shape with increasing temperature. The two-magnon peak is dominated by the $S=1$ bound state which remains well defined up to temperatures of the order of $J$. The variation with temperature and wave vector of the integrated intensity for one-magnon and two-magnon scattering and of the central peak are discussed.

arXiv:cond-mat/0602387•Physical Review B•May 19, 2006•19 citations

Finite temperature effects in the S=1/2 Heisenberg chain Cu(C6D5COO)2⋅3D2O (abstract)

D. C. Dender, Daniel H. Reich, C. Broholm +2 more

Quasi-one-dimensional magnetic materials provide important test beds for rigorous models of interacting many-body systems. Nevertheless, there have been few studies of finite temperature effects on spin correlations in low-spin systems, though these are most likely to exhibit quantum effects. Copper benzoate, Cu(C6D5COO)2⋅3D2O, is a good realization of the S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain (HAFC). We have performed ac susceptibility and inelastic neutron scattering experiments on this material which establish the Hamiltonian and an excitation spectrum which is consistent with the spinon continuum ansatz of Müller et al. We present inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the temperature evolution of the dynamic spin–spin correlation function Szz(π,ω). Comparison will be made to the classical prediction and to a finite temperature field theory of Schulz as applied to this S=1/2 HAFC.

Journal of Applied Physics•Apr 15, 1996•0 citations
The effect of thermal fluctuations on the dynamics of a gapped quantum magnet is studied using inelastic neutron scattering on copper nitrate, a model material for the spin-1/2, one-dimensional (1D) bond alternating Heisenberg chain. A large, highly deuterated, single-crystal sample of copper nitrate is produced using a solution growth method and measurements are made using the high-resolution backscattering spectrometer OSIRIS at the ISIS Facility. Theoretical calculations and numerical analysis are combined to interpret the physical origin of the thermal effects observed in the magnetic spectra. The primary observations are (1) a thermally induced central peak due to intraband scattering, which is similar to Villain scattering familiar from soliton systems in 1D, and (2) the one-magnon quasiparticle pole is seen to develop with temperature into an asymmetric continuum of scattering. We relate this asymmetric line broadening to a thermal strongly correlated state caused by hard-core constraints and quasiparticle interactions. These findings are a counter example to recent assertions of the universality of line broadening in 1D systems and are applicable to a broad range of quantum systems.
The effect of thermal fluctuations on the dynamics of a gapped quantum magnet is studied using inelastic neutron scattering on copper nitrate, a model material for the one-dimensional (1D) bond alternating Heisenberg chain, combined with theoretical and numerical analysis. We observe and interpret the thermally induced central peak due to intraband scattering as well as the thermal development of an asymmetric continuum of scattering. We relate this asymmetric line broadening to hard core constraints and quasi-particle interactions. Our findings are a counter example to recent assertions of universality of line broadening in 1D systems and are to be considered as a new paradigm of behaviour, applicable to a broad range of quantum systems.
The effect of temperature dependent asymmetric line broadening is investigated in $\mathrm{Cu}({\mathrm{NO}}_{3}{)}_{2}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}2.5{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$, a model material for a one-dimensional bond alternating Heisenberg chain, using the high resolution neutron-resonance spin echo (NRSE) technique. Inelastic neutron scattering experiments on dispersive excitations including phase sensitive measurements demonstrate the potential of NRSE to resolve line shapes, which are non-Lorentzian, opening up a new and hitherto unexplored class of experiments for the NRSE method beyond standard linewidth measurements. The particular advantage of NRSE is its direct access to the correlations in the time domain without convolution with the resolution function of the background spectrometer. This application of NRSE is very promising and establishes a basis for further experiments on different systems, since the results for Cu(NO3{\mathrm{NO}}_{3}NO3​)${}_{2}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}2.5{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ are applicable to a broad range of quantum systems.
Dimerized magnets forming alternating Heisenberg chains exhibit quantum coherence and entanglement and thus can find potential applications in quantum information and computation. However, magnetic systems typically undergo thermal decoherence at finite temperatures. Here, we show inelastic neutron scattering results on an alternating antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic chain compound Na2Cu2TeO6{\mathrm{Na}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{TeO}}_{6}Na2​Cu2​TeO6​ that the excited quasiparticles can counter thermal decoherence and maintain strong correlations at elevated temperatures. At low temperatures, we observe clear dispersive singlet-triplet excitations arising from the dimers formed along the crystalline bbb axis. The excitation gap is of $\ensuremath{\sim}18\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{meV}$ and the bandwidth is about half of the gap. The band top energy has a weak modulation along the [100] direction, indicative of a small interchain coupling. The gap increases while the bandwidth decreases with increasing temperature, leading to a strong reduction in the available phase space for the triplons. As a result, the Lorentzian-type energy broadening becomes highly asymmetric as the temperature is raised. These results are associated with a strongly correlated state resulting from hard-core constraint and quasiparticle interactions. We consider these results to be not only evidence for strong correlations at finite temperatures in Na2Cu2TeO6{\mathrm{Na}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{TeO}}_{6}Na2​Cu2​TeO6​, but also for the universality of the strongly correlated state in a broad range of quantum magnetic systems.
The antiferromagnetic spin-one chain is considerably one of the most fundamental quantum many-body systems, with symmetry-protected topological order in the ground state. Here, we present results for its dynamical spin structure factor at finite temperatures, based on a combination of exact numerical diagonalization, matrix-product-state calculations, and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Open finite chains exhibit a subgap band in the thermal spectral functions, indicative of localized edge states. Moreover, we observe the thermal activation of a distinct low-energy continuum contribution to the spin spectral function with an enhanced spectral weight at low momenta and its upper threshold. This emerging thermal spectral feature of the Haldane spin-one chain is shown to result from intraband magnon scattering due to the thermal population of the single-magnon branch, which features a large bandwidth-to-gap ratio. These findings are discussed with respect to possible future studies on spin-one chain compounds based on inelastic neutron scattering.
We present results for the dynamic structure factor of the S=1∕2S=1∕2S=1∕2 bond alternating Heisenberg chain over a large range of frequencies and temperatures. Data are obtained from a numerical evaluation of thermal averages based on the calculation of all eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for chains of up to 20 spins. Interpretation is guided by the exact temperature dependence in the noninteracting dimer limit which remains qualitatively valid up to an interdimer exchange $\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\approx}0.5$. The temperature induced central peak around zero frequency is clearly identified and aspects of the crossover to spin diffusion in its variation from low to high temperatures are discussed. The one-magnon peak acquires an asymmetric shape with increasing temperature. The two-magnon peak is dominated by the S=1S=1S=1 bound state which remains well defined up to temperatures of the order of JJJ. The variation with temperature and wave vector of the integrated intensity for one-magnon and two-magnon scattering and of the central peak are discussed.
Quasi-one-dimensional magnetic materials provide important test beds for rigorous models of interacting many-body systems. Nevertheless, there have been few studies of finite temperature effects on spin correlations in low-spin systems, though these are most likely to exhibit quantum effects. Copper benzoate, Cu(C6D5COO)2⋅3D2O, is a good realization of the S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain (HAFC). We have performed ac susceptibility and inelastic neutron scattering experiments on this material which establish the Hamiltonian and an excitation spectrum which is consistent with the spinon continuum ansatz of Müller et al. We present inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the temperature evolution of the dynamic spin–spin correlation function Szz(π,ω). Comparison will be made to the classical prediction and to a finite temperature field theory of Schulz as applied to this S=1/2 HAFC.