Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials
Abstract We develop a gauge-invariant renormalized mean-field theory (RMFT) to reliably find the quantum spin liquid (QSL) states and their field response for realistic Kitaev materials under strong magnetic fields and described by the generalized Kitaev J-K-Γ- $${\Gamma }^{{\prime} }$$ Γ ′ model. R...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | npj Quantum Materials |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-025-00811-1 |
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| author | Po-Hao Chou Chung-Yu Mou Chung-Hou Chung Sungkit Yip |
| author_facet | Po-Hao Chou Chung-Yu Mou Chung-Hou Chung Sungkit Yip |
| author_sort | Po-Hao Chou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We develop a gauge-invariant renormalized mean-field theory (RMFT) to reliably find the quantum spin liquid (QSL) states and their field response for realistic Kitaev materials under strong magnetic fields and described by the generalized Kitaev J-K-Γ- $${\Gamma }^{{\prime} }$$ Γ ′ model. Remarkably, while our RMFT reproduces previous results based on using more complicated numerical methods, it also predicts several new stable QSL states. In particular, since Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) is no longer a saddle point solution, a new exotic 2-cone state distinct from the KSL is found to describe experimental observations well, and hence should be the candidate state realized in the Kitaev material, α-RuCl3. We further explore the mechanism for the suppression of the observed thermal Hall conductivity at low temperatures within the fermionic framework, and show that the polar-angle dependence of the fermionic gap can distinguish the found 2-cone state from the KSL state in further experiments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dc0a5243b50d453c8dbfd6a0e0c535d9 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2397-4648 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Quantum Materials |
| spelling | doaj-art-dc0a5243b50d453c8dbfd6a0e0c535d92025-08-20T03:07:20ZengNature Portfolionpj Quantum Materials2397-46482025-08-0110111410.1038/s41535-025-00811-1Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materialsPo-Hao Chou0Chung-Yu Mou1Chung-Hou Chung2Sungkit Yip3Electrophysics Department, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityCenter for Quantum Science and Technology, National Tsing Hua UniversityElectrophysics Department, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityInstitute of Physics, Academia SinicaAbstract We develop a gauge-invariant renormalized mean-field theory (RMFT) to reliably find the quantum spin liquid (QSL) states and their field response for realistic Kitaev materials under strong magnetic fields and described by the generalized Kitaev J-K-Γ- $${\Gamma }^{{\prime} }$$ Γ ′ model. Remarkably, while our RMFT reproduces previous results based on using more complicated numerical methods, it also predicts several new stable QSL states. In particular, since Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) is no longer a saddle point solution, a new exotic 2-cone state distinct from the KSL is found to describe experimental observations well, and hence should be the candidate state realized in the Kitaev material, α-RuCl3. We further explore the mechanism for the suppression of the observed thermal Hall conductivity at low temperatures within the fermionic framework, and show that the polar-angle dependence of the fermionic gap can distinguish the found 2-cone state from the KSL state in further experiments.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-025-00811-1 |
| spellingShingle | Po-Hao Chou Chung-Yu Mou Chung-Hou Chung Sungkit Yip Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials npj Quantum Materials |
| title | Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials |
| title_full | Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials |
| title_fullStr | Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials |
| title_short | Quantum spin liquid phases in Kitaev materials |
| title_sort | quantum spin liquid phases in kitaev materials |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-025-00811-1 |
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