Generalized Josephson effect with arbitrary periodicity in quantum magnets

Anshuman Tripathi; Felix Gerken; Peter Schmitteckert; Michael Thorwart; Mircea Trif; Thore Posske

doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013272

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Generalized Josephson effect with arbitrary periodicity in quantum magnets

Anshuman Tripathi, Felix Gerken, Peter Schmitteckert, Michael Thorwart, Mircea Trif, Thore Posske

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013272 · Physical Review Research

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Abstract

Easy-plane quantum magnets are strikingly similar to superconductors, allowing for spin supercurrent and an effective superconducting phase stemming from their U(1) rotation symmetry around the z axis. We uncover a generalized fractional Josephson effect with a periodicity that increases linearly with system size in one-dimensional spin-1/2 chains at selected anisotropies and phase-fixing boundary fields. The effect combines arbitrary integer periodicities in a single system, exceeding the 4π and 8π periodicity of superconducting Josephson effects of Majorana zero modes and other exotic quasiparticles. We reveal a universal energy-phase relation and connect the effect to the recently discovered phantom helices.