Kitaevs honeycomb-lattice spin-$1/2$ model has become a paradigmatic example for $mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquids, both gapped and gapless. Here we study the fate of these spin-liquid phases in differently stacked bilay
We use a recently developed interpretable and unsupervised machine-learning method, the tensorial kernel support vector machine (TK-SVM), to investigate the low-temperature classical phase diagram of a generalized Heisenberg-Kitaev-$Gamma$ ($J$-$K$-$
Gamma$) model on a honeycomb lattice. Aside from reproducing phases reported by previous quantum and classical studies, our machine finds a hitherto missed nested zigzag-stripy order and establishes the robustness of a recently identified modulated $S_3 times Z_3$ phase, which emerges through the competition between the Kitaev and $Gamma$ spin liquids, against Heisenberg interactions. The results imply that, in the restricted parameter space spanned by the three primary exchange interactions -- $J$, $K$, and $Gamma$, the representative Kitaev material $alpha$-${rm RuCl}_3$ lies close to the boundaries of several phases, including a simple ferromagnet, the unconventional $S_3 times Z_3$ and nested zigzag-stripy magnets. A zigzag order is stabilized by a finite $Gamma^{prime}$ and/or $J_3$ term, whereas the four magnetic orders may compete in particular if $Gamma^{prime}$ is anti-ferromagnetic.
We analyze the quantum phases, correlation functions and edge modes for a class of spin-1/2 and fermionic models related to the 1D Ising chain in the presence of a transverse field. These models are the Ising chain with anti-ferromagnetic long-range
interactions that decay with distance $r$ as $1/r^alpha$, as well as a related class of fermionic Hamiltonians that generalise the Kitaev chain, where both the hopping and pairing terms are long-range and their relative strength can be varied. For these models, we provide the phase diagram for all exponents $alpha$, based on an analysis of the entanglement entropy, the decay of correlation functions, and the edge modes in the case of open chains. We demonstrate that violations of the area law can occur for $alpha lesssim1$, while connected correlation functions can decay with a hybrid exponential and power-law behaviour, with a power that is $alpha$-dependent. Interestingly, for the fermionic models we provide an exact analytical derivation for the decay of the correlation functions at every $alpha$. Along the critical lines, for all models breaking of conformal symmetry is argued at low enough $alpha$. For the fermionic models we show that the edge modes, massless for $alpha gtrsim 1$, can acquire a mass for $alpha < 1$. The mass of these modes can be tuned by varying the relative strength of the kinetic and pairing terms in the Hamiltonian. Interestingly, for the Ising chain a similar edge localization appears for the first and second excited states on the paramagnetic side of the phase diagram, where edge modes are not expected. We argue that, at least for the fermionic chains, these massive states correspond to the appearance of new phases, notably approached via quantum phase transitions without mass gap closure. Finally, we discuss the possibility to detect some of these effects in experiments with cold trapped ions.
We study the half-filled Hubbard model on the triangular lattice with spin-dependent Kitaev-like hopping. Using the variational cluster approach, we identify five phases: a metallic phase, a non-coplanar chiral magnetic order, a $120^circ$ magnetic o
rder, a nonmagnetic insulator (NMI), and an interacting Chern insulator (CI) with a nonzero Chern number. The transition from CI to NMI is characterized by the change of the charge gap from an indirect band gap to a direct Mott gap. Based on the slave-rotor mean-field theory, the NMI phase is further suggested to be a gapless Mott insulator with a spinon Fermi surface or a fractionalized CI with nontrivial spinon topology, depending on the strength of Kitaev-like hopping. Our work highlights the rising field that interesting phases emerge from the interplay of band topology and Mott physics.
We study the Kitaev-Heisenberg-$Gamma$ model with antiferromagnetic Kitaev exchanges in the strong anisotropic (toric code) limit to understand the phases and the intervening phase transitions between the gapped $Z_2$ quantum spin liquid and the spin
-ordered (in the Heisenberg limit) as well as paramagnetic phases (in the pseudo-dipolar, $Gamma$, limit). We find that the paramagnetic phase obtained in the large $Gamma$ limit has no topological entanglement entropy and is proximate to a gapless critical point of a system described by an equal superposition of differently oriented stacked one-dimensional $Z_2times Z_2$ symmetry protected topological phases. Using a combination of exact diagonalization calculations and field-theoretic analysis we map out the phases and phase transitions to reveal the complete phase diagram as a function of the Heisenberg, the Kitaev, and the pseudo-dipolar interactions. Our work shows a rich plethora of unconventional phases and phase transitions and provides a comprehensive understanding of the physics of anisotropic Kitaev-Heisenberg-$Gamma$ systems along with our recent paper [Phys. Rev. B 102, 235124 (2020)] where the ferromagnetic Kitaev exchange was studied.
This conference summary and outlook provides a personal overview of the topics and themes of the August 2009 Dresden meeting on quantum criticality and novel phases. The dichotomy between the local moment and the itinerant views of magnetism is revis
ited and refreshed in new materials, new probes and new theoretical ideas. New universality and apparent zero temperature phases of matter move us beyond the old ideas of quantum criticality. This is accompanied by alternative pairing interactions and as yet unidentified phases developing in the vicinity of quantum critical points. In discussing novel order, the magnetic analogues of superconductivity are considered as candidate states for the hidden order that sometimes develops in the vicinity of quantum critical points in metallic systems. These analogues can be thought of as pairing in the particle-hole channel and are tabulated. This analogy is used to outline a framework to study the relation between ferromagnetic fluctuations and the propensity of a metal to nematic type phases which at weak coupling correspond to Pomeranchuk instabilities. This question can be related to the fundamental relations of Fermi liquid theory.