Universität zu Köln

Sela, Eran, Jiang, Hong-Chen, Gerlach, Max H. and Trebst, Simon ORCID: 0000-0002-1479-9736 (2014). Order-by-disorder and spin-orbital liquids in a distorted Heisenberg-Kitaev model. Phys. Rev. B, 90 (3). COLLEGE PK: AMER PHYSICAL SOC. ISSN 2469-9969

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Abstract

The microscopic modeling of spin-orbit entangled j = 1/2 Mott insulators such as the layered hexagonal iridates Na2IrO3 and Li2IrO3 has spurred an interest in the physics of Heisenberg-Kitaev models. Here we explore the effect of lattice distortions on the formation of the collective spin-orbital states that include not only conventionally ordered phases but also gapped and gapless spin-orbital liquids. In particular, we demonstrate that in the presence of distortions, i.e., spatial anisotropies of the exchange couplings, conventionally ordered states are formed through an order-by-disorder selection, which is not only sensitive to the type of exchange anisotropy but also to the relative strength of the Heisenberg and Kitaev couplings. The spin-orbital liquid phases of the Kitaev limit-a gapless phase in the vicinity of spatially isotropic couplings and a gapped Z(2) phase for a dominant spatial anisotropy of the exchange couplings-show vastly different sensitivities to the inclusion of a Heisenberg exchange. While the gapless phase is remarkably stable, the gapped Z(2) phase quickly breaks down in what might be a rather unconventional phase transition driven by the simultaneous condensation of its elementary excitations.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Sela, Eran UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Jiang, Hong-Chen UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Gerlach, Max H. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Trebst, Simon UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-1479-9736 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-433951
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevB.90.035113
Journal or Publication Title:	Phys. Rev. B
Volume:	90
Number:	3
Date:	2014
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 PHASE; RENORMALIZATION; LATTICE Multiple languages Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied; Physics, Condensed Matter Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/43395