# Spin-orbit interaction driven dimerization in one dimensional frustrated magnets

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how spin-orbit interaction influences one-dimensional frustrated magnets, revealing that it induces a bond density wave that breaks translational symmetry and opens an excitation gap.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that spin-orbit coupling causes spontaneous bond density wave formation and symmetry breaking in 1D frustrated magnets with nematic fluctuations.

## Key findings

- Spin-orbit interaction induces a bond density wave.
- The bond density wave breaks translational symmetry.
- A gap opens in the excitation spectrum due to this effect.

## Abstract

We study the effect of spin-orbit interaction on one-dimensional U(1)-invariant frustrated magnets with dominant critical nematic fluctuations. The spin-orbit coupling explicitly breaks the U(1) symmetry of arbitrary global spin rotations about the high-symmetry axis down to $Z_2$ (invariance under a $\pi$-rotation). Given that the nematic order parameter is invariant under a $\pi$-rotation, it is relevant to ask if other discrete symmetries can be spontaneously broken. Here we demonstrate that the spin-orbit coupling induces a bond density wave that spontaneously breaks the translational symmetry and opens a gap in the excitation spectrum.