Abstract : We study the low-temperature behaviour of spin ice when uniaxial pressure induces a tetragonal distortion. There is a phase transition between a Coulomb liquid and a fully magnetised phase. Unusually, it combines features of discontinuous and continuous transitions: the order parameter exhibits a jump, but this is accompanied by a divergent susceptibility and vanishing domain wall tension. All these aspects can be understood as a consequence of an emergent SU(2) symmetry at the critical point. We map out a possible experimental realisation.
https://hal-ens-lyon.archives-ouvertes.fr/ensl-00462955
Contributor : Ludovic Jaubert
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Submitted on : Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 4:10:18 PM
Last modification on : Saturday, September 22, 2018 - 8:36:01 AM
Long-term archiving on : Thursday, June 30, 2011 - 12:11:03 PM
