Can quantum skyrmions be observed in a real magnet? · revision history
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- Title
- Can quantum skyrmions be observed in a real magnet?
- Plain
- When a skyrmion is only a few atoms wide and made of small spins, quantum mechanics should matter, letting it tunnel or form superpositions. No experiment has yet shown a skyrmion behaving quantum mechanically.
- Precise
- In a frustrated or chiral magnet with $S=1/2\ \text{or}\ 1$ local moments and skyrmion radius of a few lattice spacings, detect a quantum signature: macroscopic quantum tunneling of skyrmion number or position (a temperature-independent switching rate below a crossover T*), or quantized internal modes inconsistent with classical spin dynamics. An answer is an identified system and measurement giving T* and the rate.
- Settled by
- Low-temperature single-skyrmion switching or spectroscopy showing a temperature-independent rate below T*, compared with quantum many-body calculations.
- Kind
- well-posed
- Answer type
- yes-no
- References
- (empty)
- Literature status
- open
- Status note
- (empty)
- Posed since
- (empty)