Universität zu Köln

Hickey, Ciaran ORCID: 0000-0001-7333-4237, Gohlke, Matthias ORCID: 0000-0002-3915-8177, Berke, Christoph and Trebst, Simon (2021). Generic field-driven phenomena in Kitaev spin liquids: Canted magnetism and proximate spin liquid physics. Phys. Rev. B, 103 (6). COLLEGE PK: AMER PHYSICAL SOC. ISSN 2469-9969

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Abstract

Topological spin liquids in two spatial dimensions are stable phases in the presence of a small magnetic field, but may give way to field-induced phenomena at intermediate field strengths. Sandwiched between the low-field spin liquid physics and the high-field spin-polarized phase, the exploration of magnetic phenomena in this intermediate regime, however, often remains elusive to controlled analytical approaches. Here we numerically study such intermediate-field magnetic phenomena for two representative Kitaev models (on the square-octagon and decorated honeycomb lattice) that exhibit either Abelian or non-Abelian topological order in the low-field limit. Using a combination of exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group techniques, as well as linear spin-wave theory, we establish the generic features of Kitaev spin liquids in an external magnetic field. While ferromagnetic models typically exhibit a direct transition to the polarized state at a relatively low field strength, antiferromagnetic couplings not only substantially stabilizes the topological spin liquid phase, but generically lead to the emergence of a distinct field-induced intermediate regime, separated by a crossover from the high-field polarized regime. Our results suggest that, for most lattice geometries, this regime generically exhibits significant spin canting, antiferromagnetic spin-spin correlations, and an extended proximate spin liquid regime at finite temperatures. Notably, we identify a symmetry obstruction in the original honeycomb Kitaev model that prevents, at least for certain field directions, the formation of such canted magnetism without breaking symmetries-consistent with the recent numerical observation of an extended gapless spin liquid in this case.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Hickey, Ciaran UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-7333-4237 UNSPECIFIED Gohlke, Matthias UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-3915-8177 UNSPECIFIED Berke, Christoph UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Trebst, Simon UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-573385
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevB.103.064417
Journal or Publication Title:	Phys. Rev. B
Volume:	103
Number:	6
Date:	2021
Publisher:	AMER PHYSICAL SOC
Place of Publication:	COLLEGE PK
ISSN:	2469-9969
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language QUANTUM; PHASES Multiple languages Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied; Physics, Condensed Matter Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/57338