Level spectroscopy in a two-dimensional quantum magnet: Linearly dispersing spinons at the deconfined quantum critical point

Abstract

We study the level structure of excitations at the "deconfined" critical point separating antiferromagnetic and valence-bond-solid phases in two-dimensional quantum spin systems using the $J$-$Q$ model as an example. Energy gaps in different spin ($S$) and momentum (${\bf k}$) sectors are extracted from imaginary-time correlation functions obtained in quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We find strong quantitative evidence for deconfined linearly dispersing spinons with gapless points at ${\bf k}=(0,0)$, $(\pi,0)$, $(0,\pi)$, and $(\pi,\pi)$, as inferred from two-spinon excitations ($S=0$ and $S=1$ states) around these points. We also observe a duality between singlet and triplet excitations at the critical point and inside the ordered phases, in support of an enhanced symmetry, possibly SO(5).