arXiv2023
The Kitaev spin liquid, stabilized as the ground state of the Kitaev honeycomb model, is a paradigmatic example of a topological $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquid. The fate of the Kitaev spin liquid in presence of an external magnetic field is a topic of current interest due to experiments, which apparently unveil a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological phase in the so-called Kitaev materials, and theoretical studies predicting the emergence of an intermediate quantum phase of debated nature before the appearance of a trivial partially polarized phase. In this work, we employ hierarchical mean-field theory, an algebraic and numerical method based on the use of clusters preserving relevant symmetries and short-range quantum correlations, to investigate the quantum phase diagram of the antiferromagnetic Kitaev's model in a [111] field. By using clusters of 24 sites, we predict that the Kitaev spin liquid transits through two intermediate phases characterized by stripe and chiral order, respectively, before entering the trivial partially polarized phase, differing from previous studies. We assess our results by performing exact diagonalization and computing the scaling of different observables, including the many-body Chern number and other topological quantities, thus establishing hierarchical mean-field theory as a method to study topological quantum spin liquids.