Spin-state ice in geometrically frustrated spin-crossover materials
Strongly Correlated Electrons
2020-06-09 v3 Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Chemical Physics
Abstract
Spin crossover materials contain metal ions that can access two spin-states: one low-spin (LS), the other high-spin (HS). We propose that frustrated elastic interactions can give rise to spin-state ices -- phases of matter without long-range order, characterized by a local constraint or `ice rule'. The low-energy physics of spin-state ices is described by an emergent divergence-less gauge field with a gap to topological excitations that are deconfined quasi-particles with spin fractionalized midway between the spins of the LS and HS states.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1802.04952,
title = {Spin-state ice in geometrically frustrated spin-crossover materials},
author = {Jace Cruddas and B. J. Powell},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.04952},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
Major edit, some new results; 8+2 pages