Emergence of a Luttinger Liquid Phase in an Array of Chiral Molecules
Abstract
We propose a robust platform for simulating chiral quantum magnetism using linear arrays of trapped asymmetric top molecules, specifically 1,2-propanediol (C3H8O2). By mapping the Stark-dressed rotational states onto an effective spin-1/2 subspace, we rigorously derive a generalized XXZ Heisenberg Hamiltonian governing the underlying many-body dynamics. Unlike standard solid-state models where the topological Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction (DMI) is introduced phenomenologically, we demonstrate that DMI emerges ab initio from the molecular stereochemistry. Specifically, the interference between the transition dipole moments of heterochiral enantiomer pairs (L-R), which breaks inversion symmetry, generates a tunable DMI that stabilizes a Chiral Luttinger Liquid phase. Through a comprehensive phase-diagram analysis, we identify an optimal experimental regime characterized by intermolecular separations of \( r ≈ 1.5~nm \) and intermediate electric-field strengths \( d/B ≈ 2.5 \). In this window, the system is protected from trivial field-polarized phases and exhibits a robust gapless spin-spiral texture. Our results establish 1,2-propanediol arrays as a versatile quantum simulator, providing a direct microscopic link between molecular chirality and topological many-body phases.
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