Incommensurate Antiferromagnetism in UTe2 under Pressure

The discovery of multiple superconducting phases in UTe2 boosted research on correlated-electron physics. This heavy-fermion paramagnet was rapidly identified as a reference compound to study the interplay between magnetism and unconventional superconductivity with multiple degrees of freedom. The proximity to a ferromagnetic quantum phase transition was initially proposed as a driving force to triplet-pairing superconductivity. However, we find here that long-range incommensurate antiferromagnetic order is established under pressure. The propagation vector km=(0.07,0.33,1) of the antiferromagnetic phase is close to a wave vector where antiferromagnetic fluctuations have previously been observed at ambient pressure. These elements support that UTe2 is a nearly antiferromagnet at ambient pressure. Our work appeals for theories modeling the evolution of the magnetic interactions and electronic properties, driving a correlated paramagnetic regime at ambient pressure to a long-range antiferromagnetic order under pressure. A deeper understanding of itinerant-f-electron magnetism in UTe2 will be a key for describing its unconventional superconducting phases. Published by the American Physical Society 2025