Emergence of a field-driven U(1) spin liquid in the Kitaev honeycomb model.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30705263.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-08459-9 and PMC identifier 6355955.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In the field of quantum magnetism, the exactly solvable Kitaev honeycomb model serves as a paradigm for the fractionalization of spin degrees of freedom and the formation of [Formula: see text] quantum spin liquids. An intense experimental search has led to the discovery of a number of spin-orbit entangled Mott insulators that realize its characteristic bond-directional interactions and, in the presence of magnetic fields, exhibit no indications of long-range order. Here, we map out the complete phase diagram of the Kitaev model in tilted magnetic fields and report the emergence of a distinct gapless quantum spin liquid at intermediate field strengths. Analyzing a number of static, dynamical, and finite temperature quantities using numerical exact diagonalization techniques, we find strong evidence that this phase exhibits gapless fermions coupled to a massless U(1) gauge field. We discuss its stability in the presence of perturbations that naturally arise in spin-orbit entangled candidate materials.