Spinon confinement in a quasi-one-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg magnet

Confinement -- the process by which particles with fractional quantum numbers bind to form quasiparticles with integer quantum numbers -- is as important to condensed matter as to particle physics. By a combination of inelastic neutron scattering experiments and theoretical calculations, the authors establish the compound SrCo₂V₂O₈ as a beautiful paradigm for spinon confinement in a quasi-one-dimensional quantum magnet. In particular, using state-of-the-art theoretical techniques, the authors provide a quantitative and macroscopic explanation for the existence of free spinons above the ordering temperature. They also explain how those spinons get confined into pairs with transverse and longitudinal polarizations by interchain interactions as well as how these bound pairs evolve with temperature.