Skyrmionic Schrödinger cat states in monoaxial chiral magnets

Abstract

We study the low-energy excitation spectra of a spin-1/2 quantum Heisenberg model with a monoaxial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Using the density matrix renormalization group method, our analysis reveals a degeneracy between skyrmion and antiskyrmion states, enabling the formation of a mesoscopic Schrödinger cat state - a quantum superposition of these topologically distinct textures. To characterize this nontrivial state, we compute two-point spin correlation functions, highlighting signatures accessible via neutron scattering experiments. Furthermore, we demonstrate that applying a magnetic field gradient induces a coherent time evolution of the cat state, offering a controllable mechanism for its manipulation. These findings provide a framework for the detection of skyrmionic Schrödinger cat states in quantum magnets.