Dynamically induced frustration as a route to a quantum spin ice state in Tb2Ti2O7 via virtual crystal field excitations and quantum many-body effects.
The Tb2Ti2O7 pyrochlore magnetic material is attracting much attention for its spin liquid state, failing to develop long-range order down to 50 mK despite a Curie-Weiss temperature thetaCW approximately -14 K. In this Letter we reinvestigate the theoretical description of this material by considering a quantum model of independent tetrahedra to describe its low-temperature properties. The naturally tuned proximity of this system near a Néel to spin ice phase boundary allows for a resurgence of quantum fluctuation effects that lead to an important renormalization of its effective low-energy spin Hamiltonian. As a result, Tb2Ti2O7 is argued to be a quantum spin ice. We put forward an experimental test of this proposal using neutron scattering on a single crystal.
Molavian
Hamid R
HR
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
Gingras
Michel J P
MJ
Canals
Benjamin
B