Reply to "Comment on: 'Case for a U(1)$_\pi$ Quantum Spin Liquid Ground State in the Dipole-Octupole Pyrochlore $\mathrm{Ce}_2\mathrm{Zr}_2\mathrm{O}_7$' "

TL;DR

This paper defends previous neutron scattering analysis of Ce2Zr2O7 against claims that higher-order multipolar contributions and pseudospin descriptions are invalid, clarifying the scope and assumptions of their original work.

Contribution

The authors demonstrate that higher-order multipolar effects are negligible at experimental wavevectors and that pseudospin-1/2 operators are valid for describing magnetic scattering at relevant energy scales.

Findings

Multipolar corrections are insignificant at the experimental wavevectors.

Pseudospin-1/2 operators accurately describe magnetic scattering below the crystal field gap.

Objections based on higher-order multipoles and pseudospin use are unfounded.

Abstract

In his comment [arXiv:2209.03235], S. W. Lovesey argues that our analysis of neutron scattering experiments performed on Ce$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$ is invalid. Lovesey argues that we have not properly accounted for the higher-order multipolar contributions to the magnetic scattering and that our use of pseudospin-$1/2$ operators to describe the scattering is inappropriate. In this reply, we show that the multipolar corrections discussed by Lovesey only become significant at scattering wavevectors exceeding those accessed in our experiments. This in no way contradicts or undermines our work, which never claimed a direct observation of scattering from higher-order multipoles. We further show that Lovesey's objections to our use of pseudospins are unfounded, and that the pseudospin operators are able to describe all magnetic scattering processes at the energy scale of our experiments, far below the crystal field gap. Finally, we comment on certain assumptions in Lovesey's calculations of the scattering amplitude which are inconsistent with experiment.