Magnetically driven ferroelectric order in Ni₃V₂O₈

We show that for Ni$_3$V$_2$O$_8$ long-range ferroelectric and incommensurate magnetic order appear simultaneously in a single phase transition. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the spontaneous polarization show a strong coupling between magnetic and ferroelectric orders. We determine the magnetic symmetry of this system by constraining the data to be consistent with Landau theory for continuous phase transitions. This phenomenological theory explains our observation the spontaneous polarization is restricted to lie along the crystal b axis and predicts that the magnitude should be proportional to a magnetic order parameter.