Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 327, Issue 5962, Pages 177-180Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1180085
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK)
- European Commission [RII3-CT-2003-505925]
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/H014934/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- EPSRC [EP/H014934/1] Funding Source: UKRI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Quantum phase transitions take place between distinct phases of matter at zero temperature. Near the transition point, exotic quantum symmetries can emerge that govern the excitation spectrum of the system. A symmetry described by the E-8 Lie group with a spectrum of eight particles was long predicted to appear near the critical point of an Ising chain. We realize this system experimentally by using strong transverse magnetic fields to tune the quasi-one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet CoNb2O6 (cobalt niobate) through its critical point. Spin excitations are observed to change character from pairs of kinks in the ordered phase to spin-flips in the paramagnetic phase. Just below the critical field, the spin dynamics shows a fine structure with two sharp modes at low energies, in a ratio that approaches the golden mean predicted for the first two meson particles of the E-8 spectrum. Our results demonstrate the power of symmetry to describe complex quantum behaviors.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available