Emergent Fine Structure Constant of Quantum Spin Ice Is Large
Emergent Fine Structure Constant of Quantum Spin Ice Is Large
Condensed-matter systems provide alternative "vacua" exhibiting emergent low-energy properties drastically different from those of the standard model. A case in point is the emergent quantum electrodynamics (QED) in the fractionalized topological magnet known as quantum spin ice, whose magnetic monopoles set it apart from the familiar QED of the world …