Dr Owen Benton Lecturer in Computational Condensed Matter Email: j.o.benton@qmul.ac.ukRoom Number: G. O. Jones Building, Room 403ProfileTeachingResearchPublicationsProfileI am a theoretical Condensed Matter Physicist, who uses a combination of analytical and numerical methods to understand the properties of interacting many-body systems. I grew up in the UK and studied at the University of Warwick and the University of Bristol, before spending seven years in Japan (at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, and then at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science) and then four years at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden, Germany. I seek to explore the diverse array of phenomena that can arise from many body systems and to explain the often surprising results observed in experiments.Teaching CHE 209 - Introductory Programming for Chemists CHE 709P - Introductory Programming for Drug Discovery ResearchResearch Interests:Much of my research is focused on understanding the properties of frustrated systems. That is, systems where the internal interactions pull in different directions, making it difficult to identify a simple ground state. In some cases, this results in ground states with strong quantum entanglement and excitations with fractional quantum numbers, such as in the case of quantum spin liquids. I seek to predict how these systems should behave in experiment, and use this is a guide to help find new phases of quantum matter.PublicationsSelected publications H. Yan, O. Benton, R. Moessner and A. H. Nevidomskyy, Classification of classical spin liquids: Typology and resulting landscape, Phys. Rev. B 110, L020402 (2024) M. Potts, R. Moessner and O. Benton, Exploiting polarization dependence in two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy: Examples of Ce2Zr2O7 and Nd2Zr2O7, Phys. Rev. B 109, 104435 (2024) D. R. Yahne, B. Placke, R. Schäfer, O. Benton, R. Moessner, M. Powell, J. W. Kolis, C. M. Pasco, A. F. May, M. D. Frontzek, E. M. Smith, B. D. Gaulin, S. Calder and K. A. Ross, Dipolar Spin Ice Regime Proximate to an All-In-All-Out Néel Ground State in the Dipolar-Octupolar Pyrochlore Ce2Sn2O7, Phys. Rev. X 14, 011005 (2024) R. Schäfer, B. Placke, O. Benton and R. Moessner, Abundance of hard-hexagon crystals in the quantum pyrochlore antiferromagnet,Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 096702 (2023) E. M. Smith, O. Benton, D. R. Yahne, B. Placke, R. Schäfer, J. Gaudet, J. Dudemaine, A. Fitterman, J. Beare, A. R. Wildes, S. Bhattacharya, T. DeLazzer, C. R. C. Buhariwalla, N. P. Butch, R. Movshovich, J. D. Garrett, C. A. Marjerrison, J. P. Clancy, E. Kermarrec, G. M. Luke, A. D. Bianchi, K. A. Ross and B. D. Gaulin, Case for a U(1)π Quantum Spin Liquid Ground State in the Dipolar-Octupolar Pyrochlore Ce2Zr2O7, Phys. Rev. X 12, 021015 (2022) Full publication lists List of publications on Google Scholar List of preprints on arXiv Flores-Calderón R, Benton O, Moessner R (2024). Irrational Moments and Signatures of Higher-Rank Gauge Theories in Diluted Classical Spin Liquids. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.133.106501 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100012 Yan H, 闫寒, Benton O et al. (2024). Classification of classical spin liquids: Typology and resulting landscape. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.110.l020402 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100017 Placke B, Benton O, Moessner R (2024). Ising fracton spin liquid on the honeycomb lattice. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.110.l020401 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100013 Yan H, 闫寒, Benton O et al. (2024). Classification of classical spin liquids: Detailed formalism and suite of examples. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.109.174421 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100011 Potts M, Moessner R, Benton O (2024). Exploiting polarization dependence in two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy: Examples of Ce2Zr2O7 and Nd2Zr2O7. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.109.104435 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100018 Yahne DR, Placke B, Schäfer R et al. (2024). Dipolar Spin Ice Regime Proximate to an All-In-All-Out Néel Ground State in the Dipolar-Octupolar Pyrochlore Ce2Sn2O7. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevx.14.011005 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100019 Schäfer R, Placke B, Benton O et al. (2023). Abundance of Hard-Hexagon Crystals in the Quantum Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.131.096702 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100020 Smith EM, Dudemaine J, Placke B et al. (2023). Quantum spin ice response to a magnetic field in the dipole-octupole pyrochlore Ce2Zr2O7. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.108.054438 QMRO: qmroHref Scheie A, Benton O, Taillefumier M et al. (2022). Dynamical Scaling as a Signature of Multiple Phase Competition in Yb2Ti2O7. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.129.217202 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100143 Potts M, Benton O (2022). Spin ice in a general applied magnetic field: Kasteleyn transition, magnetic torque, and rotational magnetocaloric effect. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.106.054437 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100010 Smith EM, Benton O, Yahne DR et al. (2022). Case for a U(1)π Quantum Spin Liquid Ground State in the Dipole-Octupole Pyrochlore Ce2Zr2O7. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevx.12.021015 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100021 Benton O, Moessner R (2021). Topological Route to New and Unusual Coulomb Spin Liquids. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.127.107202 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100022 Palle G, Benton O (2021). Exactly solvable spin-12 XYZ models with highly degenerate partially ordered ground states. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.103.214428 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100008 Benton O (2021). Ordered ground states of kagome magnets with generic exchange anisotropy. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.103.174425 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100007 Placke B, Moessner R, Benton O (2020). Hierarchy of energy scales and field-tunable order by disorder in dipolar-octupolar pyrochlores. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.102.245102 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100015 Benton O (2020). Ground-state phase diagram of dipolar-octupolar pyrochlores. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.102.104408 QMRO: qmroHref