Collective excitations in spin-1/2 magnets through bond-operator formalism designed both for paramagnetic and ordered phases

TL;DR

This paper introduces a bond-operator theory for spin-1/2 magnets that accurately describes both ordered and paramagnetic phases, revealing new quasiparticles and explaining experimental Raman spectra in layered cuprates.

Contribution

The paper develops a bond-operator formalism applicable to both phases and introduces the concept of 'singlons' as new quasiparticles, with quantitative agreement to previous results.

Findings

Quantitative agreement with previous results for ground-state energy and spectra.

Identification of 'singlons' as new spin-0 quasiparticles.

Explanation of Raman peaks via 'singlon' Green's functions.

Abstract

We present a bond-operator theory (BOT) suitable for description both magnetically ordered phases and paramagnetic phases with singlet ground states in spin-1/2 magnets. Proposed BOT provides a regular expansion of physical quantities in powers of 1/n, where n is the maximum number of bosons which can occupy a unit cell (physical results correspond to n=1). Two variants of BOT are suggested: for two and for four spins in the unit cell (two-spin and four-spin BOTs, respectively). We consider spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet (HAF) on simple square lattice bilayer by the two-spin BOT. Ground-state energy E, staggered magnetization M, and quasiparticles spectra found within the first order in 1/n are in good quantitative agreement with previous results both in paramagnetic and in ordered phases not very close to the quantum critical point between the phases. By doubling the unit cell in two directions, we discuss spin-1/2 HAF on square lattice using the suggested four-spin BOT. Magnon spectrum, E, and M found in the first order in 1/n are in good quantitative agreement with previous numerical and experimental results. We observe a special moderately damped spin-0 quasiparticle ("singlon" for short) whose energy is smaller than the energy of the Higgs mode in the most part of the Brillouin zone. By considering HAF with Izing-type anisotropy, we find that both Higgs and "singlon" modes stem from two-magnon bound states which merge with two-magnon continuum not far from the isotropic limit. We demonstrate that "singlons" appear explicitly in "scalar" correlators one of which describes the Raman intensity in $B_{1g}$ symmetry. The latter is expressed in the leading order in 1/n via the "singlon" Green's function at zero momentum which shows an asymmetric peak. The position of this peak coincides with the position of "two-magnon" peak observed experimentally in, e.g., layered cuprates.