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arXiv · 1709.07990

Dirac and Chiral Quantum Spin Liquids on the Honeycomb Lattice in a Magnetic Field

Zheng-Xin Liu·Bruce Normand
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Abstract

Motivated by recent experimental observations in $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$, we study the $K$-$\Gamma$ model on the honeycomb lattice in an external magnetic field. By a slave-particle representation and Variational Monte Carlo calculations, we reproduce the phase transition from zigzag magnetic order to a field-induced disordered phase. The nature of this state depends crucially on the field orientation. For particular field directions in the honeycomb plane, we find a gapless Dirac spin liquid, in agreement with recent experiments on $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$. For a range of out-of-plane fields, we predict the existence of a Kalmeyer-Laughlin-type chiral spin liquid, which would show an integer-quantized thermal Hall effect.

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Zheng-Xin Liu, Bruce Normand. 2017-09-23. Dirac and Chiral Quantum Spin Liquids on the Honeycomb Lattice in a Magnetic Field. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.120.187201

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