Universal monopole scaling near transitions from the Coulomb phase

TL;DR

This paper investigates the universal behavior of monopole excitations near phase transitions from the Coulomb phase in frustrated systems, combining scaling theory, duality mapping, and Monte Carlo simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a universal scaling framework for monopole density near Coulomb phase transitions and validates predictions with simulations in spin ice.

Findings

Universal crossover expressions derived for monopole behavior

Quantitative predictions confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations

Duality mapping to XY model enhances understanding of criticality

Abstract

Certain frustrated systems, including spin ice and dimer models, exhibit a Coulomb phase at low temperatures, with power-law correlations and fractionalized monopole excitations. Transitions out of this phase, at which the effective gauge theory becomes confining, provide examples of unconventional criticality. This work studies the behavior at nonzero monopole density near such transitions, using scaling theory to arrive at universal expressions for the crossover phenomena. For a particular transition in spin ice, quantitative predictions are made through a duality mapping to the XY model, and confirmed using Monte Carlo simulations.