Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen
TT 72: Correlated Magnetism – Spin Liquids I
TT 72.1: Talk
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 09:30–09:45, HSZ/0105
Anisotropic Spin Ice on a Breathing Pyrochlore Lattice — •Gloria Isbrandt1,2, Frank Pollmann1,2, and Michael Knap1,2 — 1Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Physics Department, 85748 Garching, Germany — 2Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Schellingstr. 4, 80799 München, Germany
Spin ice systems represent a prime example of constrained spin systems and exhibit rich low-energy physics. We investigate how a tunable anisotropic spin coupling modifies the classical Ising spin-ice Hamiltonian on the breathing pyrochlore lattice. Introducing sublattice-dependent anisotropy reshapes the ground-state manifold, reduces the residual entropy, and induces qualitative changes in the spin-structure factor. We theoretically uncover a rich phase diagram by varying the anisotropy and demonstrate how this modification reduces the ground state degeneracy across different phases. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find that at low temperatures the system either crosses over into a constrained spin-ice manifold, whose entropy density falls below the Pauling value, or undergoes a transition into an ordered, symmetry-broken state. We further compute spin-structure factors for the anisotropic model and show that they are well captured by a self-consistent Gaussian approximation. Our results develop the understanding of spin ice in anisotropic limits, which may be experimentally realized by strain, providing, among others, key signatures in entropy and specific heat.
Keywords: Spin Ice; Monte Carlo; Strain