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Robust non-Abelian spin liquid and a possible intermediate phase in the antiferromagnetic Kitaev model with magnetic field

Journal Article · · Physical Review. B
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); CSUN
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. California State University, Northridge (CSUN), CA (United States)
In this work, we investigate the non-Abelian topological chiral spin-liquid phase in the two-dimensional Kitaev honeycomb model subject to a magnetic field. By combining density matrix renormalization group and exact diagonalization we study the energy spectra, entanglement, topological degeneracy, and expectation values of Wilson loop operators, allowing for a robust characterization. While the ferromagnetic Kitaev spin liquid is already destroyed by a weak magnetic field with Zeeman energy $$H^{FM}_\ast ≈ 0.02$$, the antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin liquid remains robust up to a magnetic field that is an order of magnitude larger, $$H^{AFM}_\ast ≈ 0.2$$. Interestingly, for larger fields $$H^{AFM}_\ast < H < H^{AFM}_{\ast\ast}$$, an intermediate gapless phase is observed, before a second transition to the high-field partially polarized paramagnet. We attribute this rich phase diagram, and the remarkable stability of the chiral topological phase in the AFM Kitaev model, to the interplay of strong spin-orbit coupling and frustration enhanced by the magnetic field. Our findings suggest relevance to recent experiments on RuCl3 under magnetic fields.
Research Organization:
California State University, Northridge (CSUN), CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
David and Lucile Packard Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-06ER46305
OSTI ID:
1865377
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1540882
OSTI ID: 1454374
Journal Information:
Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 97; ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Emergence of a field-driven U(1) spin liquid in the Kitaev honeycomb model journal January 2019
Theory of the field-revealed Kitaev spin liquid journal June 2019
Experimental identification of quantum spin liquids journal April 2019
Heisenberg–Kitaev physics in magnetic fields journal July 2019
Orbital magnetic field effects in Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling journal October 2019
Kitaev honeycomb models in magnetic fields: Dynamical response and dual models journal October 2019
Field-induced quantum spin liquid in the Kitaev-Heisenberg model and its relation to α − RuCl 3 journal October 2019
Impact of off-diagonal exchange interactions on the Kitaev spin-liquid state of α − RuCl 3 journal June 2019
Pyrochlore U(1) spin liquid of mixed-symmetry enrichments in magnetic fields journal March 2020
Dynamical and Topological Properties of the Kitaev Model in a [111] Magnetic Field text January 2018
Successive Majorana Topological Transitions Driven by a Magnetic Field in the Kitaev Model text January 2018
Signatures of magnetic-field-driven quantum phase transitions in the entanglement entropy and spin dynamics of the Kitaev honeycomb model text January 2018
Antiferromagnetic Kitaev Interaction in $f$-Electron Based Honeycomb Magnets text January 2018
Non-Abelian chiral spin liquid in a quantum antiferromagnet revealed by an iPEPS study text January 2018
Ground-state phase diagram of the Kitaev-Heisenberg model on a kagome lattice text January 2018
Magnetic field induced intermediate quantum spin-liquid with a spinon Fermi surface text January 2018
Gapless Kitaev Spin Liquid to Classical String Gas through Tensor Networks text January 2019
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
Thermal Hall signatures of non-Kitaev spin liquids in honeycomb Kitaev materials text January 2019
Heisenberg-Kitaev Models on Hyperhoneycomb and Stripyhoneycomb Lattices: 3D-2D Equivalence of Ordered States and Phase Diagrams text January 2019
Determining topological order from infinite projected entangled pair states text January 2019