Dynamical spin chirality and spin anisotropy in gapped S=1/2 quantum systems

TL;DR

This study investigates spin anisotropy and magnetic chirality in Sr14Cu24O41 using polarized neutron scattering, revealing how magnetic field and polarization conditions influence the selection of Zeeman triplet states and discussing implications for dynamical magnetic chirality.

Contribution

It demonstrates that trivial magnetic chirality can selectively scatter specific Zeeman states and discusses the indistinguishability of trivial and non-trivial chirality in certain neutron scattering experiments.

Findings

Magnetic fluctuations are anisotropic in Sr14Cu24O41.

Magnetic field and neutron polarization influence Zeeman state selection.

Trivial and non-trivial dynamical magnetic chirality share identical scattering selection rules.

Abstract

We have studied the spin anisotropy in spin-singlet ground state compounds and the magnetic chirality, as measured by inelastic polarized neutron scattering techniques, in the chain-sublattice of Sr14Cu24O41. In-plane and out of plane magnetic fluctuations are measured to be anisotropic and further discussed in the light of the current hypothesis of spin-orbit coupling. We show that under appropriate conditions of magnetic field and neutron polarization, the \textit{trivial} magnetic chirality selects only one of the Zeeman splitted triplet states for scattering and erases the other one that posses opposite helicity. Our analysis pertains to previous studies on dynamical magnetic chirality and chiral critical exponents, where the ground state is chiral itself, the so-called \textit{non-trivial} dynamical magnetic chirality. As it turns out, both \textit{trivial} and \textit{non-trivial} dynamical magnetic chirality have identical selection rules for inelastic polarized neutron scattering experiments and it is not at all evident that they can be distinguished in a paramagnetic compound.