Comment on "Discovery of slow magnetic fluctuations and critical slowing down in the pseudogap phase of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$"

Abstract

A recent zero-field (ZF) and longitudinal-field (LF) muon spin relaxation ($\mu$SR) study of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ [Jian~Zhang {\it et al.}, arXiv:1709.06799] claims to have detected critical slowing down of magnetic fluctuations near the pseudogap temperature $T^*$, and attribute this to the onset of slow fluctuating domains of intra-unit-cell magnetic order. Here it is argued that the relaxation data displayed in this study are misleading due to an improper account of the nuclear dipole contribution and a failure to acknowledge the occurrence of muon diffusion.