No Arabic abstract
We examine recent magnetic torque measurements in two compounds, $gamma$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ and RuCl$_3$, which have been discussed as possible realizations of the Kitaev model. The analysis of the reported discontinuity in torque, as an external magnetic field is rotated across the $c-$axis in both crystals, suggests that they have a translationally-invariant chiral spin-order of the from $<{bf S}_i. ({bf S}_j ~times ~ {bf S}_k)> e 0$ in the ground state and persisting over a very wide range of magnetic field and temperature. An extra-ordinary $|B|B^2$ dependence of the torque for small fields, beside the usual $B^2$ part, is predicted due to the chiral spin-order, and found to be consistent with experiments upon further analysis of the data. Other experiments such as inelastic scattering and thermal Hall effect and several questions raised by the discovery of chiral spin-order, including its topological consequences are discussed.
We study the exchange interactions and resulting magnetic phases in the honeycomb cobaltates. For a broad range of trigonal crystal fields acting on Co2+ ions, the low-energy pseudospin-1/2 Hamiltonian is dominated by bond-dependent Ising couplings that constitute the Kitaev model. The non-Kitaev terms nearly vanish at small values of trigonal field Delta, resulting in spin liquid ground state. Considering Na3Co2SbO6 as an example, we find that this compound is proximate to a Kitaev spin liquid phase, and can be driven into it by slightly reducing Delta by sim 20 meV, e.g., via strain or pressure control. We argue that due to the more localized nature of the magnetic electrons in 3d compounds, cobaltates offer the most promising search area for Kitaev model physics.
This paper reviews the current progress on searching the Kitaev spin liquid state in 3d electron systems. Honeycomb cobaltates were recently proposed as promising candidates to realize the Kitaev spin liquid state, due to the more localized wave functions of 3d ions compared with that of 4d and 5d ions, and also the easy tunability of the exchange Hamiltonian in favor of Kitaev interaction. Several key parameters that have large impacts on the exchange constants, such as the charge-transfer gap and the trigonal crystal field, are identified and discussed. Specifically, tuning crystal field effect by means of strain or pressure is emphasized as an efficient phase control method driving the magnetically ordered cobaltates into the spin liquid state. Experimental results suggesting the existence of strong Kitaev interactions in layered honeycomb cobaltates are discussed. Finally, the future research directions are briefly outlined.
The search for fractionalization in quantum spin liquids largely relies on their decoupling with the environment. However, the spin-lattice interaction is inevitable in a real setting. While the Majorana fermion evades a strong decay due to the gradient form of spin-lattice coupling, the study of the phonon dynamics may serve as an indirect probe of fractionalization of spin degrees of freedom. Here we propose that the signatures of fractionalization can be seen in the sound attenuation and the Hall viscosity. Despite the fact that both quantities can be related to the imaginary part of the phonon self-energy, their origins are quite different, and the time-reversal symmetry breaking is required for the Hall viscosity. First, we compute the sound attenuation due to a phonon scattering off of a pair of Majorana fermions and show that it is linear in temperature ($sim T$). We argue that it has a particular angular dependence providing the information about the spin-lattice coupling and the low-energy Majorana fermion spectrum. The observable effects in the absence of time-reversal symmetry are then analyzed. We obtain the phonon Hall viscosity term from the microscopic Hamiltonian with time-reversal symmetry breaking term. Importantly, the Hall viscosity term mixes the longitudinal and transverse phonon modes and renormalize the spectrum in a unique way, which may be probed in spectroscopy measurement.
We study the ground-state properties of a spin-1 Heisenberg model on the square lattice with the first and second nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic couplings $J_1$, $J_2$ and a three-spin scalar chirality term $J_chi$. Using the density matrix renormalization group calculation, we map out a global phase diagram including various magnetic order phases and an emergent quantum spin liquid phase. The nature of the spin liquid is identified as a bosonic non-Abelian Moore-Read state by the fingerprint of the entanglement spectra and identification of a full set of topological sectors. We further unveil a stripe magnetic order coexisting with this spin liquid. Our results not only establish a rare example of non-Abelian spin liquids in simple spin systems, but also demonstrate the coexistence of fractionalized excitations and magnetic order beyond mean-field descriptions.
A minimal Kitaev-Gamma model has been recently investigated to understand various Kitaev systems. In the one-dimensional Kitaev-Gamma chain, an emergent SU(2)$_1$ phase and a rank-1 spin ordered phase with $O_hrightarrow D_4$ symmetry breaking were identified using non-Abelian bosonization and numerical techniques. However, puzzles near the antiferromagnetic Kitaev region with finite Gamma interaction remained unresolved. Here we focus on this parameter region and find that there are two new phases, namely, a rank-1 ordered phase with an $O_hrightarrow D_3$ symmetry breaking, and a peculiar Kitaev phase. Remarkably, the $O_hrightarrow D_3$ symmetry breaking corresponds to the classical magnetic order, but appears in a region very close to the antiferromagnetic Kitaev point where the quantum fluctuations are presumably very strong. In addition, a two-step symmetry breaking $O_hrightarrow D_{3d}rightarrow D_3$ is numerically observed as the length scale is increased: At short and intermediate length scales, the system behaves as having a rank-2 spin nematic order with $O_hrightarrow D_{3d}$ symmetry breaking; and at long distances, time reversal symmetry is further broken leading to the $O_hrightarrow D_3$ symmetry breaking. Finally, there is no numerical signature of spin orderings nor Luttinger liquid behaviors in the Kitaev phase whose nature is worth further studies.