Monopole Dynamics Research Articles

Topological data analysis of monopole current networks in $U(1)$ lattice gauge theory

In 44-dimensional pure compact U(1)U(1) lattice gauge theory, we analyse topological aspects of the dynamics of monopoles across the deconfinement phase transition. We do this using tools from Topological Data Analysis (TDA). We demonstrate that observables constructed from the zeroth and first homology groups of monopole current networks may be used to quantitatively and robustly locate the critical inverse coupling \beta_{c}βc through finite-size scaling. Our method provides a mathematically robust framework for the characterisation of topological invariants related to monopole currents, putting on firmer ground earlier investigations. Moreover, our approach can be generalised to the study of Abelian monopoles in non-Abelian gauge theories.

Prethermal Time-Crystalline Spin Ice and Monopole Confinement in a Driven Magnet.

Studies of systems far from equilibrium open up new avenues for investigating exotic phases of matter. A driven-dissipative frustrated spin system is examined in this study, and we suggest an out-of-equilibrium nonmagnetic phase where the spins do not order but adhere to the ice rule in space and establish a long-range crystalline order in time. In contrast to the conventional spin ice, the dynamics of monopoles is confined due to the nonequilibrium feature of our model. Possible experimental realizations of our model are discussed.

How do axisymmetric black holes grow monopole and dipole hair?

We study the dynamical formation of scalar monopole and dipole hair in scalar Gauss-Bonnet theory and dynamical Chern-Simons theory. We prove that the spherically symmetric mode of the dipole hair is completely determined by the product of the mass of the spacetime and the value of the monopole hair. We then show that the dynamics of the $\ensuremath{\ell}=1$ mode of the dipole hair is intimately tied to the appearance of the event horizon during axisymmetric collapse, which results in the radiation of certain modes that could have been divergent in the future of the collapse. We confirm these analytical predictions by simulating the gravitational collapse of a rapidly rotating neutron star in the decoupling limit, both in scalar Gauss-Bonnet and dynamical Chern-Simons theory. Our results, combined with those in Hegade K. R. et al. [Phys. Rev. D 105, 064041 (2022)], provide a clear physical picture of the dynamics of scalar monopole and dipole radiation in axisymmetric and spherical gravitational collapse in these theories.

Existence, stability, and dynamics of monopole and Alice ring solutions in antiferromagnetic spinor condensates

In this work we study the existence, stability, and dynamics of select topological point and line defects in anti-ferromagnetic, polar phase, $F=1$ $^{23}$Na spinor condensates. Specifically, we leverage fixed-point and numerical continuation techniques in three spatial dimensions to identify solution families of monopole and Alice rings as the chemical potential (number of atoms) and trapping strengths are varied within intervals of realizable experimental parameters. We are able to follow the monopole from the linear limit of small atom number all the way to the Thomas-Fermi regime of large atom number. Additionally, and importantly, our studies reveal the existence of {\em two} Alice ring solution branches, corresponding to, relatively, smaller and larger ring radii, that bifurcate from each other in a saddle-center bifurcation as the chemical potential is varied. We find that the monopole solution is always dynamically unstable in the regimes considered. In contrast, we find that the larger Alice ring is indeed stable close to the bifurcation point until it destabilizes from an oscillatory instability bubble for a larger value of the chemical potential. We also report on the possibility of dramatically reducing, yet not completely eliminating, the instability rates for the smaller Alice ring by varying the trapping strengths. The dynamical evolution of the different unstable waveforms is also probed via direct numerical simulations.

Boundary metrics on soliton moduli spaces

The geodesic approximation is a powerful method for studying the dynamics of BPS solitons. However, there are systems, such as BPS monopoles in three-dimensional hyperbolic space, where this approach is not applicable because the moduli space metric defined by the kinetic energy is not finite. In the case of hyperbolic monopoles, an alternative metric has been defined using the abelian connection on the sphere at infinity, but its relation to the dynamics of hyperbolic monopoles is unclear. Here this metric is placed in a more general context of boundary metrics on soliton moduli spaces. Examples are studied in systems in one and two space dimensions, where it is much easier to compare the results with simulations of the full nonlinear field theory dynamics. It is found that geodesics of the boundary metric provide a reasonable description of soliton dynamics.

Universal Dynamics of Magnetic Monopoles in Two-Dimensional Kagomé Ice

A magnetic monopole in spin ice is a novel quasiparticle excitation in condensed matter physics, and we found that the ac frequency dependent magnetic susceptibility $\chi(\omega)$ in the two-dimensional (2D) spin ice (so-called kagom\'{e} ice) of Dy$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ shows a single scaling form. This behavior can be understood in terms of the dynamical scaling law for 2D Coulomb gas (CG) systems [Phys. Rev. B 90, 144428 (2014)], characterized by the charge correlation length $\xi (\propto1/\sqrt{\omega_1})$, where $\omega_{1}$ is a characteristic frequency proportional to the peak position of the imaginary part of $\chi(\omega)$. It is a generic behavior among a wide variety of models such as the vortex dynamics of 2D superconductors, 2D superfluids, classical XY magnets, and dynamics of melting of Wigner crystals.

Direct Observation of the Statics and Dynamics of Emergent Magnetic Monopoles in a Chiral Magnet.

In the three-dimensional (3D) Heisenberg model, topological point defects known as spin hedgehogs behave as emergent magnetic monopoles, i.e., quantized sources and sinks of gauge fields that couple strongly to conduction electrons, and cause unconventional transport responses such as the gigantic Hall effect. We observe a dramatic change in the Hall effect upon the transformation of a spin hedgehog crystal in a chiral magnet MnGe through combined measurements of magnetotransport and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). At low temperatures, well-defined SANS peaks and a negative Hall signal are each consistent with expectations for a static hedgehog lattice. In contrast, a positive Hall signal takes over when the hedgehog lattice fluctuates at higher temperatures, with a diffuse SANS signal observed upon decomposition of the hedgehog lattice. Our approach provides a simple way to both distinguish and disentangle the roles of static and dynamic emergent monopoles on the augmented Hall motion of conduction electrons.

Dynamics of Nambu monopole in two Higgs doublet models. Cosmological Monopole Collider

We study the dynamics of the Nambu monopole in two Higgs doublet models, which is a magnetic monopole attached by two topological Z strings (Z flux tubes) from two opposite sides. The monopole is a topologically stable solution of the equation of motions when the Higgs potential has global U (1) and ℤ2 symmetries. In this paper, we consider more general cases without the ℤ2 symmetry, and find that it is no longer a static solution but moves along the Z string being pulled by the heavier string. After analytically constructing an asymptotic form of the monopole, we confirm such a motion using the numerical relaxation method. In addition, we analyze the real time dynamics of the monopole based on a point-like approximation. Consequently, if there were long string networks with the monopoles in the early universe, the monopole accelerates nearly to the speed of light emitting electromagnetic radiations as a synchrotron accelerator, and collides to an anti-monopole on the string. This collision event, which we call the cosmological monopole collider, can produce much heavier particles than those we can see today, e.g., at the Large Hadron Collider.

Extremely slow nonequilibrium monopole dynamics in classical spin ice

We report on the non-equilibrium monopole dynamics in the classical spin ice Dy$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ detected by means of high-resolution magnetostriction measurements. Significant lattice changes occur at the transition from the kagome-ice to the saturated-ice phase, visible in the longitudinal and transverse magnetostriction. A hysteresis opening at temperatures below 0.6 K suggests a first-order transition between the kagome and saturated state. Extremely slow lattice relaxations, triggered by changes of the magnetic field, were observed. These lattice-relaxation effects result from non-equilibrium monopole formation or annihilation processes. The relaxation times extracted from our experiment are in good agreement with theoretical predictions with decay constants of the order of $10{^4}$ s at 0.3 K.

Monopole dynamics of Bose–Fermi mixtures in a three-dimensional optical lattice on a harmonic trap

Motivated by recent developments in experimental studies of Bose–Fermi mixtures, we investigate monopole oscillation dynamics of Bose–Fermi mixtures in a three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice and an external isotropic harmonic trap potential. We use dynamical Gutzwiller approximation and calculate time dependence of the average spatial extent of particles in a coexisting phase where superfluid bosons and metal fermions coexist. With the trap potential, the bosons concentrate at and around the center of the potential and the fermions surround the bosons. They begin to demonstrate monopole oscillations when the trap potentials are suddenly changed to the ones with smaller curvature. In particular, the correlation between the oscillations of the bosons and fermions is different depending on the condition of the initial confinement. We also show the case where only one of the two trap potentials is changed.

Emergent magnetic monopole dynamics in macroscopically degenerate artificial spin ice.

Magnetic monopoles, proposed as elementary particles that act as isolated magnetic south and north poles, have long attracted research interest as magnetic analogs to electric charge. In solid-state physics, a classical analog to these elusive particles has emerged as topological excitations within pyrochlore spin ice systems. We present the first real-time imaging of emergent magnetic monopole motion in a macroscopically degenerate artificial spin ice system consisting of thermally activated Ising-type nanomagnets lithographically arranged onto a pre-etched silicon substrate. A real-space characterization of emergent magnetic monopoles within the framework of Debye-Hückel theory is performed, providing visual evidence that these topological defects act like a plasma of Coulomb-type magnetic charges. In contrast to vertex defects in a purely two-dimensional artificial square ice, magnetic monopoles are free to evolve within a divergence-free vacuum, a magnetic Coulomb phase, for which features in the form of pinch-point singularities in magnetic structure factors are observed.

Electrodynamics with magnetic monopoles: Photon wave mechanical theory

The microscopic Maxwell-Lorentz equations show an intrinsic symmetry if magnetic charge and current densities are included. Starting from the symmetrized set of field equations a propagator approach is used to describe the transverse (photon) electrodynamics in space-time. Two dyadic propagators are needed: (i) a transverse electric propagator with a near-field part and (ii) a magnetic propagator with a midfield part. The first quantized photon wave mechanical theory, based on the analytical parts of the two transverse Riemann-Silberstein vectors, is extended to include magnetic monopole dynamics. The dynamical equations for the photon helicity eigenvectors and the local energy conservation in the photon field are discussed. The Dirac string concept and the fiber bundle approach are avoided using the double-potential formalism of Cabibbo and Ferrari. The transverse ($T$) parts of the electric (${\mathbf{A}}_{T}^{e}$) and magnetic (${\mathbf{A}}_{T}^{m}$) vector potentials relate in a simple manner to our propagator theory if this is formulated in terms of the Huygens scalar propagator and the transverse electric and magnetic current densities. A transformation of the transverse vector potentials, which is nonlocal in space and time, allows one to express the transverse parts of the electric and magnetic fields as curls of combinations of the original (${\mathbf{A}}_{T}^{e},\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathbf{A}}_{T}^{m}$) and the transformed (${\mathsc{A}}_{T}^{e},\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathsc{A}}_{T}^{m}$) transverse vector potentials. The momentum of the particle-photon system is discussed, and it is shown that the electromagnetic parts of the canonical electric (charge $e$) and magnetic (charge $g$) particle momenta are given by $e({\mathbit{A}}_{T}^{e}+{\mathsc{A}}_{T}^{m})$ and $g({\mathbit{A}}_{T}^{m}\ensuremath{-}{\mathsc{A}}_{T}^{e})$, respectively. The angular momentum of the particle-photon system is analyzed and contact is made to the well-known nonretarded Saha-Wilson orbital angular momentum for an ($e,g$) pair. The near field of a magnetic monopole is studied based on the overlooked fact that the magnetic near field contains both longitudinal ($L$) (with $\mathbf{\ensuremath{\nabla}}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}{\mathbf{B}}_{L}=0$) and transverse vector field components. The sum of the two parts always is Einstein retarded, with proper account of the limitation caused by the lack of complete spatial photon localization. Finally, the relativistic electron-photon Hamiltonian in an external (prescribed) magnetic monopole field is discussed, paying particular attention to a determination of the transformed transverse magnetic vector potential, ${\mathsc{A}}_{T}^{m}$, and its positive-frequency part.

Disorder dependence of monopole dynamics in Dy2Ti2O7 probed via thermal transport measurements

Extensive thermal conductivity measurements have been conducted on two single crystals of ${\mathrm{Dy}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ti}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ from 60 mK to 60 K. The samples are differentiated by their levels of disorder, which are determined through a combination of x-ray diffraction measurements and thermal conductivity data. We report clear evidence of a magnetic contribution to the thermal conductivity, which we attribute to magnetic monopoles. Furthermore, the magnetic conductivity increases with increased disorder due to the impact of disorder on the monopole density.

Proposal for the detection of magnetic monopoles in spin ice via nanoscale magnetometry

We present a proposal for applying nanoscale magnetometry to the search for magnetic monopoles in the spin ice materials holmium and dysprosium titanate. Employing Monte Carlo simulations of the dipolar spin ice model, we find that when cooled to below $1.5\,$K these materials exhibit a sufficiently low monopole density to enable the direct observation of magnetic fields from individual monopoles. At these temperatures we demonstrate that noise spectroscopy can capture the intrinsic fluctuations associated with monopole dynamics, allowing one to isolate the qualitative effects associated with both the Coulomb interaction between monopoles and the topological constraints implied by Dirac strings. We describe in detail three different nanoscale magnetometry platforms (muon spin rotation, nitrogen vacancy defects, and nanoSQUID arrays) that can be used to detect monopoles in these experiments, and analyze the advantages of each.

Dipolar Spin Ice States with a Fast Monopole Hopping Rate in CdEr_{2}X_{4} (X=Se, S).

Excitations in a spin ice behave as magnetic monopoles, and their population and mobility control the dynamics of a spin ice at low temperature. CdEr_{2}Se_{4} is reported to have the Pauling entropy characteristic of a spin ice, but its dynamics are three orders of magnitude faster than the canonical spin ice Dy_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}. In this Letter we use diffuse neutron scattering to show that both CdEr_{2}Se_{4} and CdEr_{2}S_{4} support a dipolar spin ice state-the host phase for a Coulomb gas of emergent magnetic monopoles. These Coulomb gases have similar parameters to those in Dy_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}, i.e., dilute and uncorrelated, and so cannot provide three orders faster dynamics through a larger monopole population alone. We investigate the monopole dynamics using ac susceptometry and neutron spin echo spectroscopy, and verify the crystal electric field Hamiltonian of the Er^{3+} ions using inelastic neutron scattering. A quantitative calculation of the monopole hopping rate using our Coulomb gas and crystal electric field parameters shows that the fast dynamics in CdEr_{2}X_{4} (X=Se, S) are primarily due to much faster monopole hopping. Our work suggests that CdEr_{2}X_{4} offer the possibility to study alternative spin ice ground states and dynamics, with equilibration possible at much lower temperatures than the rare earth pyrochlore examples.

Phonon-mediated spin-flipping mechanism in the spin ices Dy2Ti2O7 and Ho2Ti2O7

To understand emergent magnetic monopole dynamics in the spin ices Ho$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and Dy$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$, it is necessary to investigate the mechanisms by which spins flip in these materials. Presently there are thought to be two processes: quantum tunneling at low and intermediate temperatures and thermally activated at high temperatures. We identify possible couplings between crystal field and optical phonon excitations and construct a strictly constrained model of phonon-mediated spin flipping that quantitatively describes the high-temperature processes in both compounds, as measured by quasielastic neutron scattering. We support the model with direct experimental evidence of the coupling between crystal field states and optical phonons in Ho$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$.

Measuring global monopole velocities, one by one

We present an estimation of the average velocity of a network of global monopoles in a cosmological setting using large numerical simulations. In order to obtain the value of the velocity, we improve some already known methods, and present a new one. This new method estimates individual global monopole velocities in a network, by means of detecting each monopole position in the lattice and following the path described by each one of them. Using our new estimate we can settle an open question previously posed in the literature: velocity-dependent one-scale (VOS) models for global monopoles predict two branches of scaling solutions, one with monopoles moving at subluminal speeds and one with monopoles moving at luminal speeds. Previous attempts to estimate monopole velocities had large uncertainties and were not able to settle that question. Our simulations find no evidence of a luminal branch. We also estimate the values of the parameters of the VOS model. With our new method we can also study the microphysics of the complicated dynamics of individual monopoles. Finally we use our large simulation volume to compare the results from the different estimator methods, as well as to asses the validity of the numerical approximations made.

Observation of ice-rule violation and monopole dynamics via edge nucleation of domain walls in artificial spin ice lattice

In a patterned Co honeycomb spin ice structure, we show that violation in the ice-rule or magnetic monopoles, can be observed during a magnetization reversal process in 430Oe≤H≤760Oe magnetic field (H) range. The monopoles are shown to originate from the nucleation of domain walls at the edges, and they hop towards the other edge via the propagation of magnetic domain walls. The paths that the domain walls traveled or the Dirac strings, are shown to increase in length with magnetic fields increment and no random flipping of the bars are observed in the structure.

Annihilation dynamics of topological monopoles on a fiber in nematic liquid crystals.

We use the laser tweezers to create isolated pairs of topological point defects in a form of radial and hyperbolic hedgehogs, located close and attracted to a thin fiber with perpendicular surface orientation of nematic liquid crystal molecules in a thin planar nematic cell. We study the time evolution of the interaction between the two monopoles by monitoring their movement and reconstructing their trajectories and velocities. We find that there is a crossover in the pair interaction force between the radial and hyperbolic hedgehog. At small separation d, the elastic force between the opposite monopoles results in an increase of the attractive force with respect to the far field, and their relative velocity v scales as a v(d)∝d^{-2±0.2} power law. At large separations, the two oppositely charged monopoles can either attract or repel with constant interaction force. We explain this strange far-field behavior by the experimental inaccuracy in setting the fiber exactly perpendicular to the cell director.

Dynamics of Bound Monopoles in Artificial Spin Ice: How to Store Energy in Dirac Strings.

Dirac strings in spin ices are lines of reversed dipoles joining two quasiparticle excitations. These excitations behave as unbound emergent monopoles if the tension of Dirac strings vanishes. In this Letter, analytical and numerical analysis are used to study the dynamics of two-dimensional dipolar spin ices, artificially created analogs of bulk spin ice, in the regime of bound monopoles. It is shown that, in this regime, strings, rather than monopoles, are effective degrees of freedom explaining the finite-width band of Pauling states. A measurable prediction of path-time dependence of endpoints of a stretched and, then, released Dirac string is made and verified via simulations. It is shown that string dynamics is defined by the characteristic tension-to-mass ratio, which is determined by the fine structure constant and lattice dependent parameter. It is proposed to use string tension to achieve spontaneous magnetic currents. A concept of an energy storing device on the basis of this principle is proposed and illustrated by an experimental demonstration. A scheme of independent measurement at the nanoscale is proposed.