Searching for spin liquids can be frustratingly one-dimensional   

Speaker: Dr Oliver Belwood
Affiliation: University of Queensland

Abstract

Whether it be the promise of fault tolerant quantum computation or better understanding the high temperature superconductors, experimental physicists have long sought after the quantum spin liquid; an exotic, magnetically disordered phase of matter. However, the nearly 50 year long search has left us with more questions than answers, largely due to the fact that there is no agreed upon ‘smoking gun’ signature of a quantum spin liquid. The search is further complicated by the fact that magnetic disorder in one-dimension can pose as quantum spin liquid physics in higher dimensions due to magnetic frustration. In this talk, I discuss how and why the dimensional origins of magnetic quasiparticles called spinons aid in the search for quantum spin liquids, and I will show recent results that experimentally confirm magnetic one-dimensionality via optical spectroscopy.