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arXiv · 2501.12437

Field-induced phase transitions in the Kitaev-Heisenberg model: A sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo study and possible application to $\alpha$-RuCl3

Xuan Zou·Shuo Liu·Wenan Guo·Hong Yao
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Abstract

The frustrated magnet $\alpha$-RuCl3 is one of the prime candidates for realizing a Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL). However, the existence of a field-induced intermediate QSL phase in this material remains under debate. Here, we employ sign-free numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the Kitaev-Heisenberg (KH) model on the honeycomb lattice with $K=-2J$ under an applied magnetic field along the z-direction. Our findings reveal that the system undergoes a direct quantum phase transition from a zigzag magnetically ordered phase to a spin-polarized phase at zero temperature, which belongs to the 3D XY universality class. At finite temperatures, a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition line separates the spin-polarized phase from a quasi-long-range ordered state, eventually terminating at the quantum critical point. Our results convincingly show that there is no intermediate QSL phase in the KH model with a z-direction magnetic field, which we believe will shed important light on understanding experimental observations in $\alpha$-RuCl3.

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Xuan Zou, Shuo Liu, Wenan Guo, Hong Yao. 2025-01-21. Field-induced phase transitions in the Kitaev-Heisenberg model: A sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo study and possible application to $\alpha$-RuCl3. https://doi.org/10.1103/941b-fyn7

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