Chiral order and electromagnetic dynamics in one-dimensional multiferroic cuprates

Abstract

We show by unbiased numerical calculations that the ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor exchange interaction stabilizes a vector spin chiral order against the quantum fluctuation in a frustrated spin-1/2 chain relevant to multiferroic cuprates, LiCu2O2 and LiCuVO4. Our realistic semi-classical analyses for LiCu2O2 resolve controversies on the helical magnetic structure and unveil the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone modes as the origin of experimentally observed electromagnons.