Evolution of Quantum Fluctuations Near the Quantum Critical Point of the Transverse Field Ising Chain System CoNb 2 O 6

Abstract

The transverse field Ising chain model is ideally suited for testing the fundamental ideas of quantum phase transitions because its well-known T=0 ground state can be extrapolated to finite temperatures. Nonetheless, the lack of appropriate model materials hindered the past effort to test the theoretical predictions. Here, we map the evolution of quantum fluctuations in the transverse field Ising chain based on nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of CoNb2O6, and we demonstrate the finite-temperature effects on quantum criticality for the first time. From the temperature dependence of the Nb93 longitudinal relaxation rate 1/T1, we identify the renormalized classical, quantum critical, and quantum disordered scaling regimes in the temperature (T) vs transverse magnetic field (h⊥) phase diagram. Precisely at the critical field hc⊥=5.25±0.15 T, we observe a power-law behavior, 1/T1∼T−3/4, as predicted by quantum critical scaling. Our parameter-free comparison between the data and theory reveals that quantum fluctuations persist up to as high as T∼0.4J, where the intrachain exchange interaction J is the only energy scale of the problem.