Er2Ti2O7 has been suggested to be a realization of the frustrated 111 XY pyrochlore lattice antiferromagnet, for which theory predicts fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in a highly degenerate ground state manifold. We present a theoretical analysis of the classical model compared to neutron scattering experiments on the real material, both below and above TN =1.173(2) K. The model correctly predicts the ordered magnetic structure, suggesting that the real system has order stabilized by zero-point quantum fluctuations that can be modelled by classical spin wave theory. However, the model fails to describe the excitations of the system, which show unusual features.PACS numbers: 28.20. Cz, 75.25.+z An important aspect of condensed matter is the separation of energy scales, such that the minimization of one set of interactions may result in the frustration of another. A paradigm is the frustrated antiferromagnet, in which the local magnetic couplings between ions are frustrated by the crystal symmetry that the ions adopt. However, a systematic study of the rare earth pyrochlore titanates R 2 Ti 2 O 7 has shown that local antiferromagnetic bond frustration is neither a necessary, nor a sufficient condition for magnetic frustration 1,2,3,4,5 . Rather, it arises from the interplay, in the context of the crystal symmetry, of the principal terms in the spin Hamiltonian. In the case of R 2 Ti 2 O 7 , the main terms are single-ion anisotropy, exchange and dipolar coupling. Depending on the balance of these factors, one observes spin ice behavior (R = Ho, Dy) 1,2,3 , spin liquid behavior (R = Tb) 4 , and dipole induced partial order (R = Gd)5 . Such behavior is best classified in terms of the dominant 111 single-ion anisotropy that arises from the trigonal crystal electric field (CEF) at the rare earth site. For example, whereas the Heisenberg antiferromagnet has a spin liquid ground state 6 , the 111 Ising (dipolar) ferromagnet has a spin ice ground state 1,3,7 . There is thus a clear motivation to study models based on other simple anisotropies and their realization in the titanate series. In this Letter we study one such model -the 111 XY model antiferromagnet 8 -and its realization Er 2 Ti 2 O 7 9,10,11,12 . We consider the Hamiltonian:where the classical spins, S i , populate a face centered cubic array of corner sharing tetrahedra: the pyrochlore lattice. The spins are confined to easy XY planes by a local d i = 111 anisotropy, D < 0, and are coupled antiferromagnetically by exchange J < 0. This model was first studied in Ref.8 , where a discrete, but macroscopically degenerate, set of ground states was identified. At finite temperature thermal fluctuations were found to select an ordered state by the mechanism that Villain called "order by disorder"13 and a first order phase transition was observed in numerical simulations. The propagation vector of the ordered state was found to be k = 0, 0, 0 (henceforth "k = 0"), but the basis vectors of the magnetic structure were not determined. We have recently discovere...

The magnetic dynamics of the spin ice material Ho2Ti2O7 in its paramagnetic (‘hot’) phase have been investigated by a combination of neutron spin echo and ac-susceptibility techniques. Relaxation at high temperatures (T > 15 K) is proved to occur by a thermally activated single-ion process that is distinct from the process that dominates at lower temperatures (1 K < T < 15 K). It is argued that the low-temperature process must involve quantum mechanical spin tunnelling, as quasi-classical channels of relaxation are exhausted in this temperature range. Our results resolve a mystery in the physics of spin ice: why has a 15 K ac-susceptibility peak been observed in Dy2Ti2O7 but not in Ho2Ti2O7 or Ho2Sn2O7?

O are reported. All compounds are identified as S = 1 planar Heisenberg magnetic chains with large planar anisotropy and different values of the in-plane anisotropy constant. The low-temperature specific heat data are interpreted assuming the existence of noninteracting excitons and antiexcitons as elementary excitations from the singlet-ground state. The extended strong-coupling model is used for analysis of the data at higher temperatures. The applicability of the models used with respect to the value of the in-plane anisotropy is discussed.

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