Magnetic monopoles in spin ice
Magnetic monopoles in spin ice
C. Castelnovo1, R. Moessner1,2 & S. L. Sondhi
Nature 451, 42-45 (3 January 2008)
Electrically charged particles, such as the electron, are ubiquitous. In contrast, no elementary particles with a net magnetic charge have ever been observed, despite intensive and prolonged searches (see ref. 1 for example). We pursue an alternative strategy, namely that of realizing them not as elementary but rather as emergent particles—that is, as manifestations of the correlations present in a strongly interacting many-body system. The most prominent examples of emergent quasiparticles are the ones with fractional electric charge e/3 in quantum Hall physics2. Here we propose that magnetic monopoles emerge in a class of exotic magnets known collectively as spin ice3, 4, 5: the dipole moment of the underlying electronic degrees of freedom fractionalises into monopoles. This would account for a mysterious phase transition observed experimentally in spin ice in a magnetic field6, 7, which is a liquid–gas transition of the magnetic monopoles. These monopoles can also be detected by other means, for example, in an experiment modelled after the Stanford magnetic monopole search8.
Spin-ice materials are characterized by the presence of magnetic moments.
Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7174/full/nature06433.html
C. Castelnovo1, R. Moessner1,2 & S. L. Sondhi
Nature 451, 42-45 (3 January 2008)
Electrically charged particles, such as the electron, are ubiquitous. In contrast, no elementary particles with a net magnetic charge have ever been observed, despite intensive and prolonged searches (see ref. 1 for example). We pursue an alternative strategy, namely that of realizing them not as elementary but rather as emergent particles—that is, as manifestations of the correlations present in a strongly interacting many-body system. The most prominent examples of emergent quasiparticles are the ones with fractional electric charge e/3 in quantum Hall physics2. Here we propose that magnetic monopoles emerge in a class of exotic magnets known collectively as spin ice3, 4, 5: the dipole moment of the underlying electronic degrees of freedom fractionalises into monopoles. This would account for a mysterious phase transition observed experimentally in spin ice in a magnetic field6, 7, which is a liquid–gas transition of the magnetic monopoles. These monopoles can also be detected by other means, for example, in an experiment modelled after the Stanford magnetic monopole search8.
Spin-ice materials are characterized by the presence of magnetic moments.
Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7174/full/nature06433.html
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