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Title: Quasiparticle-continuum level repulsion in a quantum magnet

Abstract

When the energy eigenvalues of two coupled quantum states approach each other in a certain parameter space, their energy levels repel each other and level crossing is avoided. Such level repulsion, or avoided level crossing, is commonly used to describe the dispersion relation of quasiparticles in solids. But, little is known about the level repulsion when more than two quasiparticles are present; for example, in a strongly interacting quantum system where a quasiparticle can spontaneously decay into a many-particle continuum. Here we show that even in this case level repulsion exists between a long-lived quasiparticle state and a continuum. Here, we observe a renormalization of the quasiparticle dispersion relation due to the presence of the continuum of multi-quasiparticle states, in our fine-resolution neutron spectroscopy study of magnetic quasiparticles in the frustrated quantum magnet BiCu2PO6.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada)
  2. National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
  3. National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
  4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  5. National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (Taiwan)
  6. Paul Scherrer Inst., Villigen (Switzerland). Lab. for Neutron Scattering and Imaging
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source (SNS)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1265876
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725; DMR-0944772
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1745-2473
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; magnetic properties and materials; quantum fluids and solids; quantum mechanics

Citation Formats

Plumb, K. W., Hwang, Kyusung, Qiu, Y., Harriger, Leland W., Granroth, G.  E., Kolesnikov, Alexander I., Shu, G. J., Chou, F. C., Rüegg, Ch., Kim, Yong Baek, and Kim, Young-June. Quasiparticle-continuum level repulsion in a quantum magnet. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1038/nphys3566.
Plumb, K. W., Hwang, Kyusung, Qiu, Y., Harriger, Leland W., Granroth, G.  E., Kolesnikov, Alexander I., Shu, G. J., Chou, F. C., Rüegg, Ch., Kim, Yong Baek, & Kim, Young-June. Quasiparticle-continuum level repulsion in a quantum magnet. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3566
Plumb, K. W., Hwang, Kyusung, Qiu, Y., Harriger, Leland W., Granroth, G.  E., Kolesnikov, Alexander I., Shu, G. J., Chou, F. C., Rüegg, Ch., Kim, Yong Baek, and Kim, Young-June. Mon . "Quasiparticle-continuum level repulsion in a quantum magnet". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3566. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1265876.
@article{osti_1265876,
title = {Quasiparticle-continuum level repulsion in a quantum magnet},
author = {Plumb, K. W. and Hwang, Kyusung and Qiu, Y. and Harriger, Leland W. and Granroth, G.  E. and Kolesnikov, Alexander I. and Shu, G. J. and Chou, F. C. and Rüegg, Ch. and Kim, Yong Baek and Kim, Young-June},
abstractNote = {When the energy eigenvalues of two coupled quantum states approach each other in a certain parameter space, their energy levels repel each other and level crossing is avoided. Such level repulsion, or avoided level crossing, is commonly used to describe the dispersion relation of quasiparticles in solids. But, little is known about the level repulsion when more than two quasiparticles are present; for example, in a strongly interacting quantum system where a quasiparticle can spontaneously decay into a many-particle continuum. Here we show that even in this case level repulsion exists between a long-lived quasiparticle state and a continuum. Here, we observe a renormalization of the quasiparticle dispersion relation due to the presence of the continuum of multi-quasiparticle states, in our fine-resolution neutron spectroscopy study of magnetic quasiparticles in the frustrated quantum magnet BiCu2PO6.},
doi = {10.1038/nphys3566},
journal = {Nature Physics},
number = 3,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 30 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Mon Nov 30 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

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Field induced spontaneous quasiparticle decay and renormalization of quasiparticle dispersion in a quantum antiferromagnet
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Zigzag spin chains in the spin-5/2 antiferromagnet Ba 2 Mn(PO 4 ) 2
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Absence of localized edge modes in spite of a non-trivial Zak phase in BiCu 2 PO 6
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