Intrinsic quantum Ising model on a triangular lattice magnet TmMgGaO$_{4}$ and beyond

TL;DR

This paper investigates the intrinsic quantum Ising magnet TmMgGaO$_{4}$ on a triangular lattice, modeling its magnetic behavior with a transverse field Ising model and exploring its thermal and field-induced phase transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed effective model for TmMgGaO$_{4}$, clarifies experimental discrepancies, and predicts magnetic evolution under external fields, highlighting emergent symmetries and BKT physics.

Findings

The TFIM model matches experimental magnetic sublattice structures.

Predictions for magnetic property evolution under external fields.

Identification of emergent U(1) symmetry and BKT signatures.

Abstract

The rare-earth magnet TmMgGaO$_{4}$ is proposed to be an intrinsic quantum Ising magnet described by the antiferromagnetic transverse field Ising model (TFIM) on a triangular lattice, where the relevant degrees of freedom are the non-degenerate dipole-multipole doublets of the Tm$^{3+}$ ions and the transverse field has an intrinsic origin from the weak splitting of the doublet. We compare this special doublet of Tm$^{3+}$ with the dipole-octupole Kramers doublet. We study the proposed effective model for the Tm-based triangular lattice and consider the effects of external magnetic fields and finite temperatures. From the "orthogonal operator approach", we show that the TFIM with the three-sublattice intertwined ordered state agrees with the experiments and further clarify the discrepancy in the nubmers of the magnetic sublattices and the measured magnon branches. We make specific predictions for the evolution of the magnetic properties with the external magnetic field. Furthermore, we demonstrate that an emergent U(1) symmetry emerges in thermal melting of the underlying orders and at the criticality, and summarize the previously known signatures related to the finite-temperature Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) physics. We discuss the broad relevance of intrinsic quantum Ising magnets to many other systems, especially the Tm-based materials.