Phononic enhancement and detection of hidden spin-nematicity and dynamics in quantum magnets
Abstract
The spin nematic phase, characterized by long-range order of spin quadrupole moments in the absence of dipolar magnetism, presents a significant challenge for conventional experimental detection. We propose a novel method to detect this elusive order in quantum magnets with an illustration in the spin-1 triangular lattice Mott insulator. By integrating out the phonon degrees of freedom, we obtain a phase diagram with substantially enlarged regions for the spin-nematic and spin-nematic-supersolid phases. We then demonstrate that through the spin-lattice coupling, the emergence of spin nematic order imprints a distinctive signature onto the phonon spectra, providing a clear spectroscopic signature for the quadrupolar order accessible via Raman or inelastic X-ray scattering. Our formalism offers a direct and powerful method to uncover the hidden spin nematicity, opening a new pathway for diagnosing multipolar orders in quantum magnets.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.22283,
title = {Phononic enhancement and detection of hidden spin-nematicity and dynamics in quantum magnets},
author = {Junyu Tang and Hong-hao Song and Gang v. Chen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.22283},
year = {2026}
}