arXiv subjects

Subhro Bhattacharjee

Publications and source records attributed to Subhro Bhattacharjee.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Bridging coupled wires and lattice Hamiltonian for two-component bosonic quantum Hall states

We investigate a model of hard-core bosons with correlated hopping on the honeycomb lattice in an external magnetic field by means of a coupled-wire approach. It has been numerically shown that this model exhibits at half filling the bosonic integer quantum Hall (BIQH) state, which is a symmetry-protected topological phase protected by the $U(1)$ particle conservation [Y.-C. He et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 116803 (2015)]. By combining the bosonization approach and a coupled-wire construction, we analytically confirm this finding and show that it even holds in the strongly anisotropic (quasi-one-dimensional) limit. We discuss the stability of the BIQH phase against tunneling that break the separate particle conservations on different sublattices down to a global particle conservation. We further argue that a phase transition between two different BIQH phases is in a deconfined quantum critical point described by two copies of the (2+1)-dimensional $O(4)$ nonlinear sigma model with the topological $θ$ term at $θ=π$. Finally we predict a possible fractional quantum Hall state, the Halperin (221) state, at 1/6 filling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Kagome chiral spin liquid as a gauged U(1) symmetry protected topological phase

While the existence of a chiral spin liquid (CSL) on a class of spin-1/2 kagome antiferromagnets is by now well-established numerically, a controlled theoretical path from the lattice model leading to a low energy topological field theory is still lacking. This we provide via an explicit construction, starting from reformulating a microscopic model for a CSL as a lattice gauge theory, and deriving the low-energy form of its continuum limit. A crucial ingredient is the realisation that the bosonic spinons of the gauge theory exhibit a $U(1)$ symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, which upon promoting its $U(1)$ global symmetry to a local gauge structure ("gauging") yields the CSL. We suggest that such an explicit lattice-based construction involving gauging of an SPT phase can be applied more generally to understand topological spin liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Vacancies in the Kitaev quantum spin liquids on the 3D hyper-honeycomb lattice

We study the effect of adding disorder to the exactly solvable Kitaev model on the hyper-honeycomb lattice, which hosts both gapped and gapless spin liquid phases with an emergent $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge field. The latter has an unusual gapless spectrum of Majorana fermion excitations, with a co-dimension-two Fermi ring. We thus address the question of the interplay of topological physics and disorder by considering the properties of isolated single and pair of vacancies. We show that near the vacancies, the local magnetic response to a field $h_z$ is parametrically enhanced in comparison to the pristine bulk. Unlike the previously studied case of the 2D honeycomb Kitaev model, the vacancies do not bind a flux of the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge field. In the gapped phase, an isolated vacancy gives rise to effectively free spin-half moments with a non-universal coupling to an external field. In the gapless phase, the low-field magnetization is suppressed parametrically, to $(-\ln h_z)^{-1/2}$ because of interactions with the surrounding spin-liquid. We also show that a pair of vacancies is subject to a sublattice-dependent interaction on account of coupling through the bulk spin liquid, which is spatially anisotropic even when all Kitaev couplings have equal strength. This coupling is thus exponentially suppressed with distance in the gapped phase. In the gapless phase, two vacancies on the same (opposite) sublattice exhibit an enhanced (suppressed) low-field response, amounting to an effectively (anti-)ferromagnetic interaction.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Bosonic Integer Quantum Hall effect in an interacting lattice model

We study a bosonic model with correlated hopping on a honeycomb lattice, and show that its ground state is a bosonic integer quantum Hall (BIQH) phase, a prominent example of a symmetry protected topological (SPT) phase. By using the infinite density matrix renormalization group method, we establish the existence of the BIQH phase by providing clear numerical evidence: (i) a quantized Hall conductance with $|σ_{xy}|= 2$ (ii) two counter propagating gapless edge modes. Our simple model is an example of a novel class of systems that can stabilize SPT phases protected by a continuous symmetry on lattices and opens up new possibilities for the experimental realization of these exotic phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Ab initio holography

We apply the quantum renormalization group to construct a holographic dual for the U(N) vector model for complex bosons defined on a lattice. The bulk geometry becomes dynamical as the hopping amplitudes which determine connectivity of space are promoted to quantum variables. In the large N limit, the full bulk equations of motion for the dynamical hopping fields are numerically solved for finite systems. From finite size scaling, we show that different phases exhibit distinct geometric features in the bulk. In the insulating phase, the space gets fragmented into isolated islands deep inside the bulk, exhibiting ultra-locality. In the superfluid phase, the bulk exhibits a horizon beyond which the geometry becomes non-local. Right at the horizon, the hopping fields decay with a universal power-law in coordinate distance between sites, while they decay in slower power-laws with continuously varying exponents inside the horizon. At the critical point, the bulk exhibits a local geometry whose characteristic length scale diverges asymptotically in the IR limit.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Acoustic signatures of the phases and phase transitions in Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$

We report on measurements of the sound velocity and attenuation in a single crystal of the candidate quantum- spin-ice material Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The acoustic modes couple to the spins magneto-elastically and, hence, carry information about the spin correlations that sheds light on the intricate magnetic phase diagram of Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and the nature of spin dynamics in the material. Particularly, we find a pronounced thermal hysteresis in the acoustic data with a concomitant peak in the specific heat indicating a possible first-order phase transition at about $0.17$ K. At low temperatures, the acoustic response to magnetic field saturates hinting at the development of magnetic order. Furthermore, mean-field calculations suggest that Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ undergoes a first-order phase transition from a cooperative paramagnetic phase to a ferromagnet below $T\approx 0.17$ K.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Z2 topological liquid of hard-core bosons on a kagome lattice at 1/3 filling

We consider hard-core bosons on the kagome lattice in the presence of short range repulsive interactions and focus particularly on the filling factor 1/3. In the strongly interacting limit, the low energy excitations can be described by the quantum fully packed loop coverings on the triangular lattice. Using a combination of tensor-product state based methods and exact diagonalization techniques, we show that the system has an extended Z2 topological liquid phase as well as a lattice nematic phase. The latter breaks lattice rotational symmetry. By tuning appropriate parameters in the model, we study the quantum phase transition between the topological and the symmetry broken phases. We construct the critical theory for this transition using a mapping to an Ising gauge theory that predicts the transition to belong to the O(3) universality class.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Phases and phase transitions of a perturbed Kekulé-Kitaev model

We study the quantum spin liquid phase in a variant of the Kitaev model where the bonds of the honeycomb lattice are distributed in a Kekulé pattern. The system supports gapped and gapless Z_2 quantum spin liquids with interesting differences from the original Kitaev model, the most notable being a gapped Z_2 spin liquid on a Kagome lattice. Perturbing the exactly solvable model with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg perturbations, we find a magnetically ordered phase stabilized by a quantum `order by disorder' mechanism, as well as an exotic continuous phase transition between the topological spin liquid and this magnetically ordered phase. Using a combination of field theory and Monte-Carlo simulations, we find that the transition likely belongs to the 3D-XYxZ_2 universality class.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Signatures of spin-triplet excitations in optical conductivity of valence bond solids

We show that the optical responses below the Mott gap can be used to probe the spin-triplet excitations in valence bond solid (VBS) phases in Mott insulators. The optical conductivity in this regime arises due to the electronic polarization mechanism via virtual electron hopping processes. We apply this mechanism to the Hubbard model with spin-orbit couplings and/or the corresponding spin model with significant Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions, and compute the optical conductivity of VBS states on both ideal and deformed Kagome lattices. In case of the deformed Kagome lattice, we study the antiferromagnet, Rb$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$ with the pinwheel VBS state. In case of the ideal Kagome lattice, we explore the optical conductivity signatures of the spin-triplet excitations for three VBS states with (1) a 12-site unit cell, (2) a 36-site unit cell with six-fold rotation symmetry, and (3) a 36-site unit cell with three-fold rotation symmetry, respectively. We find that increasing the DM interactions generally leads to broad and smooth features in the optical conductivity with interesting experimental consequences. The optical conductivity reflects the features of the spin-triplet excitations that can be measured in future experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Topological and magnetic phases with strong spin-orbit coupling on the hyperhoneycomb lattice

We study the general phase diagram of correlated electrons for iridium-based (Ir) compounds on the hyperhoneycomb lattice---a crystal structure where the Ir$^{4+}$ ions form a three-dimensional network with three-fold coordination recently realized in the $β$-Li${}_{2}$IrO${}_{3}$ compound. Using a combination of microscopic derivations, symmetry analysis, and density functional calculations, we determine the general model for the electrons occupying the $j_{\text{eff}}=1/2$ orbitals at the Ir$^{4+}$ sites. In the non-interacting limit, we find that this model allows for both topological and trivial electronic band insulators along with metallic states. The effect of Hubbard-type electron-electron repulsion on the above electronic structure in stabilizing $\mathbf{q}=\mathbf{0}$ magnetic order reveals a phase diagram with continuous phase transition between a topological band insulator and a Neel ordered magnetic insulator.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Heisenberg-Kitaev model on hyperhoneycomb lattice

Motivated by recent experiments on $β-$Li$_2$IrO$_3$, we study the phase diagram of the Heisenberg-Kitaev model on a three dimensional lattice of tri-coordinated Ir$^{4+}$, dubbed the hyperhoneycomb lattice by Takagi et. al. The lattice geometry of this material, along with Ir$^{4+}$ ions carrying $J_{\rm eff}=1/2$ moments, suggests that the Heisenberg-Kitaev model may effectively capture the low energy spin-physics of the system in the strong-coupling limit. Using a combination of semiclassical analysis, exact solution and slave-fermion mean field theory, we find, in addition to the spin-liquid, four different magnetically ordered phases depending on the parameter regime. All four magnetic phases--the Néel, the polarized ferromagnet, the skew-stripy and the skew-zig-zag, have collinear spin ordering. The three dimensional Z$_2$ spin liquid, which extends over an extended parameter regime around the exactly solvable Kitaev point, has a gapless Majorana mode with a deformed Fermi-circle (co-dimensions, $d_c=2$). We discuss the effect of the magnetic field and finite temperature on different phases that may be relevant for future experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Quantum spin liquids in the absence of spin-rotation symmetry: application to Herbertsmithite

It has been suggested that the nearest-neighbour (NN) antiferromagnetic Heisenberg (HAF) model on the Kagome lattice may be a good starting point to understand the quantum spin-liquid (QSL) behaviour discovered in Herbertsmithite. We investigate possible QSL phases in the presence of experimentally relevant spin-rotation symmetry-breaking perturbations such as Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and Ising interactions, as well as second-neighbour antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions. We use the projective symmetry group analysis within the slave-fermion framework of QSL phases and systematically classify possible QSLs in the presence of these perturbations. The dynamical spin-structure factor for relevant QSLs is computed and their effects are studied. Our calculations reveal dispersive features in the spin structure factor embedded in a generally diffuse background due to the existence of fractionalized S=1/2 excitations called spinons. For two of the previously proposed $Z_2$ states, the dispersive features are almost absent, and diffuse scattering dominates over a large energy window throughout the Brillouin zone. This resembles the structure factor observed in recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments on singlet crystals of Herbertsmithite. Furthermore, one of the $Z_2$ states with the spin structure factor with mostly diffuse scattering is gapped, and it may be adiabatically connected to the gapped QSL state observed in recent DMRG calculations for the NN HAF. The above perturbations are found to enhance the diffuse nature of the spin structure factor and reduce the momentum dependencies of the spin gap. We also calculate the electron spin resonance absorption spectra that further characterize the role of spin-rotation symmetry breaking perturbations, and can shed more light into the nature of the ground state in Herbertsmithite.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Three-dimensional nematic spin liquid in the stacked triangular lattice 6H-B structure

Recently, a number of experiments indicate the possible presence of spin liquid phases in quantum magnets with spin-1/2 and spin-1 moments sitting on triangular-lattice-based structures in Ba3CuSb2O9 and Ba3NiSb2O9 respectively. In relation to these experiments, several theoretical proposals have been made for spin liquid phases and spin-liquid-like behaviours on the stacked triangular lattice. While the crystal structures of these materials are currently under debate, it is nonetheless interesting to understand possible spin liquid phases on such frustrated lattices. In this work, we apply Schwinger boson mean-field theory and projective symmetry group (PSG) analysis to investigate spin liquid phases on the fully three-dimensional 6H-B structure, in contrast to previous works that considered two-dimensional systems. We find that a nematic Z2 spin liquid phase, where the lattice-rotational symmetry is spontaneously broken, is the most promising spin liquid phase that is consistent with spiral magnetic ordering in the classical limit. We discuss the implications of our results to future theoretical and experimental works.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Spin-orbital liquids in non-Kramers magnet on Kagome lattice

Localized magnetic moments with crystal-field doublet or pseudo-spin 1/2 may arise in correlated insulators with even number of electrons and strong spin-orbit coupling. Such a non-Kramers pseudo-spin 1/2 is the consequence of crystalline symmetries as opposed to the Kramers doublet arising from time-reversal invariance, and is necessarily a composite of spin and orbital degrees of freedom. We investigate possible spin-orbital liquids with fermionic spinons for such non-Kramers pseudo-spin 1/2 systems on the Kagome lattice. Using the projective symmetry group analysis, we find {\it ten} new phases that are not allowed in the corresponding Kramers systems. These new phases are allowed due to unusual action of the time reversal operation on non-Kramers pseudo-spins. We compute the spin-spin dynamic structure factor that shows characteristic features of these non-Kramers spin-orbital liquids arising from their unusual coupling to neutrons, which is therefore relevant for neutron scattering experiments. We also point out possible anomalous broadening of Raman scattering intensity that may serve as a signature experimental feature for gapless non-Kramers spin-orbital liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Quantum Phase Transition in Heisenberg-Kitaev Model

We explore the nature of the quantum phase transition between a magnetically ordered state with collinear spin pattern and a gapless $Z_2$ spin liquid in the Heisenberg-Kitaev model. We construct a slave particle mean field theory for the Heisenberg-Kitaev model in terms of complex fermionic spinons. It is shown that this theory, formulated in the appropriate basis, is capable of describing the Kitaev spin liquid as well as the transition between the gapless $Z_2$ spin liquid and the so-called stripy antiferromagnet. In particular, within a mean field theory, we have a discontinuous transition from the $Z_2$ spin liquid to the stripy antiferromagnet. We argue, however, that subtle spinon confinement effects, associated with the instability of gapped U(1) spin liquid in two spatial dimensions, are playing an important role at the transition. The possibility of an exotic continuous transition is briefly addressed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Magnetic excitation spectra in pyrochlore iridates

Metal-insulator transitions in pyrochlore iridates (A2Ir2O7) are believed to occur due to subtle interplay of spin-orbit coupling, geometric frustration, and electron interactions. In particular, the nature of magnetic ordering of iridium ions in the insulating phase is crucial for understanding of several exotic phases recently proposed for these materials. We study the spectrum of magnetic excitations in the intermediate-coupling regime for the so-called all-in/all-out magnetic state in pyrochlore iridates with non-magnetic A-site ions (A=Eu,Y), which is found to be preferred in previous theoretical studies. We find that the effect of charge fluctuations on the spin-waves in this regime leads to strong departure from the lowest-order spin-wave calculations based on models obtained in strong-coupling calculations. We discuss the characteristic features of the magnetic excitation spectrum that can lead to conclusive identification of the magnetic order in future resonant inelastic x-ray (or neutron) scattering experiments. Knowledge of the nature of magnetic order and its low-energy features may also provide useful information on the accompanying metal-insulator transition.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Fractionalized topological insulators from frustrated spin models in three dimensions

We present a theory of three dimensional fractionalized topological insulators in the form of U(1) spin liquids with gapped fermionic spinons in the bulk and topologically protected gapless spinon surface states. Starting from a spin-1/2 model on a pyrochlore lattice, with frustrated antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic exchange interactions, we show that decomposition of the latter interactions, within slave-fermion representation of the spins, can naturally give rise to an emergent spin-orbit coupling for the spinons. This stabilizes a fractionalized topological insulators which also have bulk bond spin-nematic order. Finally, we describe the low energy properties of these states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Spin-Orbital Locking, Emergent Pseudo-Spin, and Magnetic order in Honeycomb Lattice Iridates

The nature of the effective spin Hamiltonian and magnetic order in the honeycomb iridates is explored by considering a trigonal crystal field effect and spin-orbit coupling. Starting from a Hubbard model, an effective spin Hamiltonian is derived in terms of an emergent pseudo-spin-1/2 moment in the limit of large trigonal distortions and spin-orbit coupling. The present pseudo-spins arise from a spin-orbital locking and are different from the jeff = 1/2 moments that are obtained when the spin-orbit coupling dominates and trigonal distortions are neglected. The resulting spin Hamiltonian is anisotropic and frustrated by further neighbour interactions. Mean field theory suggests a ground state with 4-sublattice zig-zag magnetic order in a parameter regime that can be relevant to the honeycomb iridate compound Na2IrO3, where similar magnetic ground state has recently been observed. Various properties of the phase, the spin-wave spectrum and experimental consequences are discussed. The present approach contrasts with the recent proposals to understand iridate compounds starting from the strong spin-orbit coupling limit and neglecting non-cubic lattice distortions.

cond-mat.str-el↗