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QUANTUM SPIN LIQUIDS

Singlets singled out

Nature Physics volume 17, pages 1081–1082 (2021)Cite this article

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The state that forms at low temperatures in a quantum antiferromagnet on a kagome lattice has been debated for decades. Nuclear magnetic resonance has now shown the gradual emergence of entangled spin singlets in a disordered kagome antiferromagnet.

The ground state of the quantum kagome antiferromagnet has not yet been resolved theoretically, even after three decades of analytical and computational efforts1. The leading candidates are all non-magnetic states based on the partition of all the spins on the lattice into spin singlets, known also as valence bonds. A static configuration of valence bonds leads to the state called a valence bond solid (Fig. 1a), which is not a spin liquid but an ordered state as it breaks the lattice symmetry. Alternatively, the configuration of valence bonds can fluctuate in a manner to retain the lattice symmetry (Fig. 1b), producing a standard spin liquid.

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Fig. 1: Three possible non-magnetic states of the quantum antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice.

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  1. Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Martin Klanjšek

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  1. Martin Klanjšek
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Correspondence to Martin Klanjšek.

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Klanjšek, M. Singlets singled out. Nat. Phys. 17, 1081–1082 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01323-y

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