Theory of the Kitaev model in a [111] magnetic field

Shang-Shun Zhang (), Gábor B. Halász and Cristian D. Batista
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Shang-Shun Zhang: The University of Tennessee
Gábor B. Halász: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Cristian D. Batista: The University of Tennessee

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Recent numerical studies indicate that the antiferromagnetic Kitaev honeycomb lattice model undergoes a magnetic-field-induced quantum phase transition into a new spin-liquid phase. This intermediate-field phase has been previously characterized as a gapless spin liquid. By implementing a recently developed variational approach based on the exact fractionalized excitations of the zero-field model, we demonstrate that the field-induced spin liquid is gapped and belongs to Kitaev’s 16-fold way. Specifically, the low-field non-Abelian liquid with Chern number C = ±1 transitions into an Abelian liquid with C = ±4. The critical field and the field-dependent behaviors of key physical quantities are in good quantitative agreement with published numerical results. Furthermore, we derive an effective field theory for the field-induced critical point which readily explains the ostensibly gapless nature of the intermediate-field spin liquid.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28014-3

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