28 research outputs found
Proximate Kitaev quantum spin liquid behaviour in a honeycomb magnet.
Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are topological states of matter exhibiting remarkable properties such as the capacity to protect quantum information from decoherence. Whereas their featureless ground states have precluded their straightforward experimental identification, excited states are more revealing and particularly interesting owing to the emergence of fundamentally new excitations such as Majorana fermions. Ideal probes of these excitations are inelastic neutron scattering experiments. These we report here for a ruthenium-based material, α-RuCl3, continuing a major search (so far concentrated on iridium materials) for realizations of the celebrated Kitaev honeycomb topological QSL. Our measurements confirm the requisite strong spin-orbit coupling and low-temperature magnetic order matching predictions proximate to the QSL. We find stacking faults, inherent to the highly two-dimensional nature of the material, resolve an outstanding puzzle. Crucially, dynamical response measurements above interlayer energy scales are naturally accounted for in terms of deconfinement physics expected for QSLs. Comparing these with recent dynamical calculations involving gauge flux excitations and Majorana fermions of the pure Kitaev model, we propose the excitation spectrum of α-RuCl3 as a prime candidate for fractionalized Kitaev physics.Research using ORNLâs HFIR and SNS facilities was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Scientific User Facilities Division. A part of the synthesis and the bulk characterization performed at ORNL was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (C.A.B. and J.-Q.Y.). The work at University of Tennessee was funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundationâs EPiQS Initiative through Grant GBMF4416 (D.G.M. and L.L.). The work at Dresden was in part supported by DFG grant SFB 1143 (J.K. and R.M.), and by a fellowship within the Postdoc-Program of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (J.K.). D.L.K. is supported by EPSRC Grant No. EP/M007928/1. The collaboration as a whole was supported by the Helmholtz Virtual Institute âNew States of Matter and their Excitationsâ initiative.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat460
Recommended from our members
Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl3
The celebrated Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) is the paradigmatic example of a topological magnet with emergent excitations in the form of Majorana Fermions and gauge fluxes. Upon breaking of time-reversal symmetry, for example in an external magnetic field, these fractionalized quasiparticles acquire non-Abelian exchange statistics, an important ingredient for topologically protected quantum computing. Consequently, there has been enormous interest in exploring possible material realizations of Kitaev physics and several candidate materials have been put forward, recently including α-RuCl3. In the absence of a magnetic field this material orders at a finite temperature and exhibits low-energy spin wave excitations. However, at moderate energies, the spectrum is unconventional and the response shows evidence for fractional excitations. Here we use time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering to show that the application of a sufficiently large magnetic field in the honeycomb plane suppresses the magnetic order and the spin waves, leaving a gapped continuum spectrum of magnetic excitations. Our comparisons of the scattering to the available calculations for a Kitaev QSL show that they are consistent with the magnetic field induced QSL phase.The work at ORNLâs Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor was supported by the United States Department of Energy (US-DOE), Office of Science - Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Scientific User Facilities Division. Part of the research was supported by the US-DOE, Office of Science - BES, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (P.K., C.A.B. and J-Q.Y.). D.M. and P.K. acknowledge support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundationâs EPiQS Initiative through Grant GBMF4416. The work at Dresden was in part supported by DFG grant SFB 1143 (J.K. and R.M.). J.K. is supported by the Marie Curie Programme under EC Grant agreements No.703697
Interplay of quantum and classical fluctuations near quantum critical points
For a system near a quantum critical point (QCP), above its lower critical
dimension , there is in general a critical line of second order phase
transitions that separates the broken symmetry phase at finite temperatures
from the disordered phase. The phase transitions along this line are governed
by thermal critical exponents that are different from those associated with the
quantum critical point. We point out that, if the effective dimension of the
QCP, ( is the Euclidean dimension of the system and the
dynamic quantum critical exponent) is above its upper critical dimension ,
there is an intermingle of classical (thermal) and quantum critical
fluctuations near the QCP. This is due to the breakdown of the generalized
scaling relation between the shift exponent of the critical
line and the crossover exponent , for by a \textit{dangerous
irrelevant interaction}. This phenomenon has clear experimental consequences,
like the suppression of the amplitude of classical critical fluctuations near
the line of finite temperature phase transitions as the critical temperature is
reduced approaching the QCP.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Brazilian Journal of Physic
Neutron Scattering Studies of spin excitations in hole-doped Ba0.67K0.33Fe2As2 superconductor
We report inelastic neutron scattering experiments on single crystals of
superconducting Ba0.67K0.33Fe2As2 (Tc = 38 K). In addition to confirming the
resonance previously found in powder samples, we find that spin excitations in
the normal state form longitudinally elongated ellipses along the QAFM
direction in momentum space, consistent with density functional theory
predictions. On cooling below Tc, while the resonance preserves its momentum
anisotropy as expected, spin excitations at energies below the resonance become
essentially isotropic in the in-plane momentum space and dramatically increase
their correlation length. These results suggest that the superconducting gap
structures in Ba0.67Ka0.33Fe2As2 are more complicated than those suggested from
angle resolved photoemission experiments
The Role of Environmental Transmission in Recurrent Avian Influenza Epidemics
Avian influenza virus (AIV) persists in North American wild waterfowl, exhibiting
major outbreaks every 2â4 years. Attempts to explain the patterns of
periodicity and persistence using simple direct transmission models are
unsuccessful. Motivated by empirical evidence, we examine the contribution of an
overlooked AIV transmission mode: environmental transmission. It is known that
infectious birds shed large concentrations of virions in the environment, where
virions may persist for a long time. We thus propose that, in addition to direct
fecal/oral transmission, birds may become infected by ingesting virions that
have long persisted in the environment. We design a new hostâpathogen
model that combines within-season transmission dynamics, between-season
migration and reproduction, and environmental variation. Analysis of the model
yields three major results. First, environmental transmission provides a
persistence mechanism within small communities where epidemics cannot be
sustained by direct transmission only (i.e., communities smaller than the
critical community size). Second, environmental
transmission offers a parsimonious explanation of the 2â4 year
periodicity of avian influenza epidemics. Third, very low levels of
environmental transmission (i.e., few cases per year) are sufficient for avian
influenza to persist in populations where it would otherwise vanish
A community-sourced glossary of open scholarship terms
Supplementary Information: This list of terms represents the âOpen Scholarship Glossary 1.0â (available at: https://forrt.org/glossary/. Glossary available under a CC BY NC SA 4.0 license at: https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41562-021-01269-4/MediaObjects/41562_2021_1269_MOESM1_ESM.pdf).https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41562-021-01269-4/MediaObjects/41562_2021_1269_MOESM1_ESM.pd
A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being
The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported ÎČ=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported ÎČ=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates
A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Significance
Communicating in ways that motivate engagement in social distancing remains a critical global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study tested motivational qualities of messages about social distancing (those that promoted choice and agency vs. those that were forceful and shaming) in 25,718 people in 89 countries. The autonomy-supportive message decreased feelings of defying social distancing recommendations relative to the controlling message, and the controlling message increased controlled motivation, a less effective form of motivation, relative to no message. Message type did not impact intentions to socially distance, but peopleâs existing motivations were related to intentions. Findings were generalizable across a geographically diverse sample and may inform public health communication strategies in this and future global health emergencies.
Abstract
Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on oneâs core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between peopleâs existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges