Detection of weak emergent broken-symmetries of the kagome antiferromagnet by Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

We show that the magnetic Raman response of a spin liquid is independent of the polarizations of the light for triangular symmetries. In contrast, a ground state that has a broken-symmetry shows characteristic oscillations when the polarizations are rotated. This would allow one to detect weak broken-symmetries and emergent order parameters. We focus on the kagome antiferromagnet wherein no conventional long-range order has been found so far and present the Raman cross section of a spin liquid and a valence bond crystal by using a random phase approximation.