Time-dependent correlations in quantum magnets at finite temperature
Benedikt Fauseweh, Felix Groitl, T. Keller +4 more
Complex interactions in quantum magnets lead to a variety of phases with manifold correlations, which are measurable at temperatures very low compared to the energy scale of the system. The common expectation is that quantum effects are just suppressed upon increasing temperature due to the additional thermal fluctuations. However, recent inelastic neutron scattering investigations in one- and three-dimensional compounds indicate that interplay between quantum and thermal effects is much more complicated. By combining high-resolution neutron resonance spin-echo measurements with diagrammatic perturbation theory, the authors show that anomalous decoherence effects can also be observed in the time domain, the natural domain for decaying correlations. This offers a complementary view on this phenomenon, allowing for a direct comparison between experimental data and theoretical prediction without the need for intensive data analysis. The specific form of the echo amplitude, in combination with the temperature dependence of the spectral weight, provides a smoking gun signature for nontrivial scattering processes of hard-core bosonic excitations.
arXiv:1607.04417•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Nov 8, 2016•8 citations