2025/12/16 by Naik, Gautam K., Hallén, Jonathan N., Jayarama, Nishan C. +2
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Algebraic structures and combinatorial models #FOS: Physical sciences #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) #Topological Materials and Phenomena
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2512.14843
openalex publication_date 2025/12/16 · openalex created_date 2025/12/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Decisive experimental confirmation of the U(1) quantum spin liquid phase in quantum spin ice remains an outstanding challenge. In this work, we propose stray-field magnetometry as a direct probe of the emergent photons -- the gapless excitation of the emergent electrodynamics in quantum spin ice. The emergent photons are transverse magnetization waves, which, in a finite sample, form discrete modes governed by one of two sets of natural boundary conditions: ``insulating'' or ``superconducting''. Considering cavity and thin film geometries, we find that the spectrum and spatial structure of the stray magnetic noise provide a sharp qualitative signature of the underlying electrodynamics. The predicted stray-field noise power lies comfortably within the detection range of present-day solid-state defect magnetometry.