Antiferromagnetic frustration in the tetratic phase resolved by topological order

TYPEStudent Seminar
Speaker:Daniel Abutbul
Affiliation:Technion
Date:16.06.2021
Time:12:30
Location:Lidow Nathan Rosen (300)
Abstract:

We study two-dimensional antiferromagnets and ask whether it is possible for the lattice to melt without destroying the antiferromagnetic order. We address this question on a system of hard spheres confined between parallel plates, in which spin is represented by the height of the sphere. We find a partially molten, tetratic, phase in which the antiferromagnetism survives. The antiferromagnetism is strong enough to make the tetratic phase topologically ordered, with free dislocations of Burgers vector |b|=\sqrt{2}, while dislocations with |b|=1 remain bound.