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Comprehensive study of the dynamics of a classical Kitaev spin liquid

Journal Article · · Physical Review. B
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shull-Wollan Center; Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shull-Wollan Center
  3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  4. Inst. of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako (Japan). Condensed Matter Theory Lab.
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shull-Wollan Center; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education
  6. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  7. Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)
  8. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shull-Wollan Center; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
In this work, we study the spin-S Kitaev model in the classical (S→∞) limit using Monte Carlo simulations combined with semiclassical spin dynamics. We discuss differences and similarities in the dynamical structure factors of the spin-1/2 and the classical Kitaev liquids. The quantum behavior is restricted to low temperatures where a gap protects visons from decohering the system. Once this quantum gap is breached, at low temperatures compared to the coupling constant, significant entropic disorder decoheres the Majorana fermions and the system is described quantitatively by classical dynamics. The low-temperature and low-energy spectrum of the classical model exhibits a finite-energy peak, which is the precursor of the one produced by the Majorana modes of the S=1/2 model. The classical peak is spectrally narrowed compared to the quantum result and can be explained by magnon excitations within fluctuating one-dimensional manifolds (loops). Hence the difference from the classical limit to the quantum limit can be understood by the fractionalization of magnons propagating in one-dimensional manifolds. Moreover, we show that the momentum-space distribution of the low-energy spectral weight of the S=1/2 model follows the momentum-space distribution of zero modes of the classical model.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1862163
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1398297
Journal Information:
Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 96; ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Seeing beyond the light: Vison and photon electrodynamics in quantum spin ice journal July 2019
Spin-liquid-like state in pure and Mn-doped TbInO 3 with a nearly triangular lattice journal July 2019
Interlayer coupling effect on a bilayer Kitaev model journal March 2018
Classical and quantum spin dynamics of the honeycomb Γ model journal July 2018
Probing α − RuCl 3 Beyond Magnetic Order: Effects of Temperature and Magnetic Field journal February 2018
Dynamical Structure Factor of the Three-Dimensional Quantum Spin Liquid Candidate NaCaNi 2 F 7 journal April 2019
Hidden Plaquette Order in a Classical Spin Liquid Stabilized by Strong Off-Diagonal Exchange journal June 2019
Microscopic Mechanism for a Higher-Spin Kitaev Model journal July 2019
Nonequilibrium Majorana dynamics by quenching a magnetic field in Kitaev spin liquids journal October 2019
Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl3 text January 2018
Interlayer Coupling Effect on a Bilayer Kitaev Model text January 2017
Microscopic mechanism for higher-spin Kitaev model text January 2019
Nonequilibrium Majorana Dynamics by Quenching a Magnetic Field in Kitaev Spin Liquids text January 2019

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Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Kitaev model
Kitaev-Heisenberg model
Monte Carlo methods
quantum spin liquid
spin liquid