With the organic compound $κ$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$-Cu$_2$(CN)$_3$ in mind, we consider a spin liquid system where a spinon Fermi surface is coupled to a U(1) gauge field. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, we derive the Quantum Boltzmann Equation (QBE) for this system. In this system, however, one cannot a priori assume the existence of Landau quasiparticles. We show that even without this assumption one can still derive a linearized equation for a generalized distribution function. We show that the divergence of the effective mass and of the finite temperature self-energy do not enter these transport coefficients and thus they are well-defined. Moreover, using a variational method, we calculate the temperature dependence of the spin resistivity and thermal conductivity of this system.
We investigate the quantum phase transition from antiferromagnetism ($AF$) to algebraic spin liquid ($ASL$). {\it We propose that spin 1/2 fermionic spinons in the $ASL$ fractionalize into spin 1/2 bosonic spinons and spinless fermions at the quantum critical point ($QCP$) between the $AF$ and the $ASL$}. Condensation of the bosonic spinons leads to the $AF$, where the condensed bosonic spinons are confined with the spinless fermions to form the fermionic spinons. These fermionic spinons are also confined to make antiferromagnons as elementary excitations in the $AF$. {\it Approaching the $QCP…
In this paper a description of the energy eingenstates of the Hubbard model on the square lattice with nearest-neighbor transfer integral $t$, on-site repulsion $U$, and $N_a^2\gg 1$ sites in terms of occupancy configurations of charge $c$ fermions, spin-1/2 spinons, and $η$-spin-1/2 $η$-spinons is introduced. Such objects emerge from a suitable electron - rotated-electron unitary transformation. In chromodynamics the quarks have color but all quark-composite physical particles are color-neutral. Within our description the $η$-spinon (and spinons) that are not invariant under the electron - ro…
We propose an experiment to identify the potential existence of a spinon Fermi surface by looking for oscillatory coupling between two ferromagnets via a spin liquid spacer. Three candidate spin liquids are investigated, and it is found that in all cases, long period oscillations should be present, the period of which would identify the Fermi wavevector of the spinon surface.
We study the stability of the 2+1 dimensional U(1) spin liquid state against proliferation of instantons in the presence of spinon Fermi surface. By mapping the spinon Fermi surface into an infinite set of 1+1 dimensional chiral fermions, it is argued that an instanton has an infinite scaling dimension for any nonzero number of spinon flavors. Therefore, the spin liquid phase is stable against instantons and the non-compact U(1) gauge theory is a good low energy description.
We study the theory of a U(1) gauge field coupled to a spinon Fermi surface. Recently this model has been proposed as a possible description of the organic compound $κ-(BEDT-TTF)_2 Cu_2 (CN)_3$. We calculate the susceptibility of this system and in particular examine the effect of pairing of the underlying spin liquid. We show that this proposed theory is consistent with the observed susceptibility measurements.
Motivated by recent numerical and experimental studies of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on kagome, we formulate a many-body model for fermionic spinons introduced by us earlier [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 187203 (2009)]. The spinons interact with an emergent U(1) gauge field and experience strong short-range attraction in the S=0 channel. The ground state of the model is generically a $Z_2$ liquid. We calculate the edge of the two-spinon continuum and compare the theory to the slave-fermion approach to the Heisenberg model.
The one-band Hubbard model on the pyrochlore lattice contains an extended quantum spin-liquid phase formed from the manifold of singlet dimer coverings. We demonstrate that the massive and deconfined spinon excitations of this system have fermionic statistics. Holonic quasiparticles introduced by doping are also fermions and we explain the origin of this counterintuitive result.
A realization of Majorana fermions is proposed in the frustrated magnets via the topological proximity effect. Specifically, we consider a theoretical model, where a topological insulator is coupled to a frustrated magnetic material through the spin exchange interaction. Using the renormalization group-based self-consistent mean-field approach, and calculating the self-energy correction due to the topological insulator, we find that the spin texture and the spin-momentum locking of the Dirac cone will be inherited by the spinons in the nearby frustrated magnets. This leads to a particular topo…
Effective gauge theories based on slave particle construction are widely used to describe quantum number fractionalization in strongly correlated electron systems. However, even setting aside the intense debates on the confinement issue of the slave particles, there are still significant conflicts between theory and experiment. In particular, a $T^{2/3}$ specific heat anomaly has been predicted as the key signature of low-lying gauge fluctuation in a $U(1)$ spin liquid with a large spinon Fermi surface, which is however never observed. Here we show that such an anomaly is actually an artifact …
We investigate the quantum antiferromagnetism arising from algebraic spin liquid via spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. We claim that in the antiferromagnet massive Dirac spinons can appear to make broad continuum spectrum at high energies in inelastic neutron scattering. The mechanism of spinon deconfinement results from the existence of fermion zero modes in single monopole potentials. Neel vectors can make a skyrmion configuration around a magnetic monopole of compact U(1) gauge fields. Remarkably, in the monopole-skyrmion composite potential the Dirac fermion is shown to have a zero mod…
Spin liquid states for spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a hyperkagome lattice are studied. We classify and study flux states according to symmetries. Applying this model to Na4Ir3O8, we propose that the high temperature state may be described by a spinon Fermi surface, which forms a paired state with line nodes below 20 K. The possible mixed spin singlet and spin triplet pairing states are discussed according to the lattice symmetry which breaks inversion.
Strong interactions between electrons in two dimensions can realize phases where their spins and charges separate. We capture this phenomenon within a dual formulation. Focusing on square lattices, we analyze the long-wavelength structure of vortices when the microscopic particles -- electrons or spinful bosons -- are near half-filling. These conditions lead to a compact gauge theory of spinons and chargons, which arise as the fundamental topological defects of the low-energy vortices. The gauge theory formulation is particularly suitable for studying numerous exotic phases and transitions. We…
We address the problem of a magnetic impurity in a two dimensional $U(1)$ spin liquid where the spinons have gap-less excitations near the Fermi-surface and are coupled to an emergent gap-less gauge field. Using a large N expansion we analyze the strong coupling behavior and obtain the Kondo temperature which was found to be the same as for a Fermi-liquid. In this approximation we also study the specific heat and the magnetic susceptibility of the impurity. These quantities present no deviations from the Fermi-liquid ones, consistent with the notion that the magnetic impurity is only sensitive…
We study the transverse electrical conductivity and the corresponding magnetic noise of a two-dimensional U(1) spin liquid state with a spinon Fermi surface. We show that in the quasi-static regime these responses have the same wave-vector dependence as that of a metal but are reduced by a dimensionless pre-factor controlled by the ratio of orbital diamagnetic susceptibilities of the spinons and chargons, correcting previous work. We estimate that this quasi-static regime is comfortably accessed by the typical NV center splittings of a few GHz and estimate that the expected T1 times for an NV …
A number of experiments on the hyperkagome iridate, Na$_4$Ir$_3$O$_8$, suggest existence of a gapless quantum spin liquid state at low temperature. Circumventing the slave particle approach commonly used in theoretical analyses of frustrated magnets, we provide a more intuitive, albeit more phenomenological, construction of a quantum spin liquid state for the hyperkagome Heisenberg model. An effective monomer-dimer model on the hyperkagome lattice is proposed a la Hao and Tchernyshyov's approach cultivated from the Husimi cactus model. Employing an arrow representation for the monomer-dimer mo…
Several experimental candidates for quantum spin liquids have been discovered in the past few years which appear to support gapless fermionic $S = {1\over 2}$ excitations called spinons. The spinons may form a Fermi sea coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field, and may undergo a pairing instability. We show that despite being charge neutral, the spinons couple to phonons in exactly the same way that electrons do in the long wavelength limit. Therefore we can use sound attenuation to measure the spinon mass and lifetime. Furthermore, transverse ultrasonic attenuation is a direct probe of the onset of pa…
In this paper we shall study a gauge theory of nodal spinons which appears as a low-energy effective theory for antiferromagnetic (AF) Heisenberg models. In most of studies on the nodal spinons given so far, the gauge interaction between spinons was assumed weak and nonperturbative effects like instantons and vortices were ignored. In the present paper, we shall study strong-coupling gauge theory of nodal spinons and reveal its nontrivial phase structure. To this end, we employ recently developed lattice gauge theory techniques for studying finite-temperature and finite-density gauge theory. A…
Inelastic neutron scattering is used to study the low-energy magnetic excitations in the spin-1 triangular lattice of the 6H-B phase of Ba$_3$NiSb$_2$O$_9$. We study two powder samples: Ba$_3$NiSb$_2$O$_9$ synthesized under high pressure and Ba$_{2.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$NiSb$_2$O$_9$ in which chemical pressure stabilizes the 6H-B structure. The measured excitation spectra show broad gapless and nondispersive continua at characteristic wave vectors. Our data rules out most theoretical scenarios that have previously been proposed for this phase, and we find that it is well described by an exotic quantum …
1T-TaS$_2$ is a cluster Mott insulator on the triangular lattice with 13 Ta atoms forming a star of David cluster as the unit cell. We derive a two dimensional XXZ spin-1/2 model with four-spin ring exchange term to describe the effective low energy physics of a monolayer 1T-TaS$_2$, where the effective spin-1/2 degrees of freedom arises from the Kramers degenerate spin-orbital states on each star of David. A large scale density matrix renormalization group simulation is further performed on this effective model and we find a gapless spin liquid phase with spinon Fermi surface at moderate to l…
In this paper we study the nonlinear current response of $U(1)$ spin liquids with large spinon Fermi surfaces under the perturbation of a time-dependent ac electric field $\mathbf{E}(t)$ within the framework of an effective $U(1)$ gauge theory. In particular, the third-order nonlinear current response to ac electric fields is derived. We show that as in the case of linear current response, an in-gap power-law ($\simω^η$) response is found for the nonlinear current at low frequency. The nonlinear susceptibility may also induce through process of third harmonic generation propagating EM wave wit…
The ground state of the quantum kagome antiferromagnet Zn-brochantite, ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$SO$_4$, which is one of only a few known spin-liquid (SL) realizations in two or three dimensions, has been described as a gapless SL with a spinon Fermi surface. Employing nuclear magnetic resonance in a broad magnetic-field range down to millikelvin temperatures, we show that in applied magnetic fields this enigmatic state is intrinsically unstable against a SL with a full or a partial gap. A similar instability of the gapless Fermi-surface SL was previously encountered in an organic triangular-lattice ant…
In this paper we study the optical properties of $U(1)$ spin liquids with large spinon Fermi surfaces based on a simple formula for the bulk optical conductivity obtained through the Ioffe-Larkin composition rule. We show that the optical conductivity of $U(1)$ spin liquids at energies above the charge gap has a unique feature that distinguishes them from ordinary insulators. In particular we show the existence of a long-life surface plasmon mode propagating along the interface between a linear medium and the spin liquid at frequencies above the charge gap, which can be detected by the widely …
In this paper we generalize the fermionic representation for $S=1/2$ spins to arbitrary spins. Within a mean field theory we obtain several spin liquid states for spin $S=1$ antiferromagnets on triangular lattices, including gapless f-wave spin liquid and topologically nontrivial $p_x+ip_y$ spin liquid. After considering different competing orders, we construct a phase diagram for the $J_1$-$J_3$-$K$ model. The application to recently discovered material $\mathrm{NiGa_2S_4}$ is discussed.
Recent experimental evidence for a field-induced quantum spin liquid (QSL) in $α$-RuCl$_3$ calls for an understanding for the ground state of honeycomb Kitaev model under a magnetic field. In this work we address the nature of an enigmatic gapless paramagnetic phase in the antiferromagnetic Kitave model, under an intermediate magnetic field perpendicular to the plane. Combining theoretical and numerical efforts, we identify this gapless phase as a $U(1)$ QSL with spinon Fermi surfaces. We also reveal the nature of continuous quantum phase transitions involving this $U(1)$ QSL, and obtain a pha…
The pseudogap effect of underdoped high-$T_c$ superconductors is studied in the U(1) gauge theory of the t-J model including the spinon pairing fluctuation. The gauge fluctuation breaks the long range correlation between the spinon pairs. The pairing fluctuation, however, suppresses significantly the low-lying gauge fluctuations and leads to a stable but phase incoherent spin gap phase which is responsible for the pseudogap effects. This quantum disordered spin gap phase emerges below a characteristic temperature $T^{*}$ which is determined by the effective potential for the spinon pairing gap…
We study the interplay of competing interactions in spin-$1/2$ triangular Heisenberg model through tuning the first- ($J_1$), second- ($J_2$), and third-neighbor ($J_3$) couplings. Based on large-scale density matrix renormalization group calculation, we identify a quantum phase diagram of the system and discover a new {\it gapless} chiral spin liquid (CSL) phase in the intermediate $J_2$ and $J_3$ regime. This CSL state spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry with finite scalar chiral order, and it has gapless excitations implied by a vanishing spin triplet gap and a finite central charge…
Resorting to a recently developed theoretical device called dimensional regularization for quantum criticality with a Fermi surface, we examine a metal-insulator quantum phase transition from a Landau's Fermi-liquid state to a U(1) spin-liquid phase with a spinon Fermi surface in two dimensions. Unfortunately, we fail to approach the spin-liquid Mott quantum critical point from the U(1) spin-liquid state within the dimensional regularization technique. Self-interactions between charge fluctuations called holons are not screened, which shows a run-away renormalization group flow, interpreted as…
The momentum bands, energy dispersions, and velocities of the charge $c$ fermions and spin-neutral two-spinon $s1$ fermions of a square-lattice quantum liquid referring to the Hubbard model on such a lattice of edge length $L$ in the one- and two-electron subspace are studied. The model involves the effective nearest-neighbor integral $t$ and on-site repulsion $U$ and can be experimentally realized in systems of correlated ultra-cold fermionic atoms on an optical lattice and thus our results are of interest for such systems. Our investigations profit from a general rotated-electron description…
The search for exotic quantum spin liquid states in simple yet realistic spin models remains a central challenge in the field of frustrated quantum magnetism. Here we consider the canonical nearest-neighbor kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet restricted to a quasi-1D strip consisting entirely of corner-sharing triangles. Using large-scale density matrix renormalization group calculations, we identify in this model an extended gapless quantum phase characterized by central charge $c=2$ and power-law decaying spin and bond-energy correlations which oscillate at tunably incommensurate wave vectors.…
Artificial Gauge Field Engineered Excited-State Topology: Control of Dynamical Evolution of Localized Spinons
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University（南京大学固体微结构物理国家重点实验室和物理学院）；Department of Physics, Changshu Institute of Technology（常熟理工学院物理系）；School of Physical Science and Technology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology（苏州科技大学物理科学与技术学院）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University（南京大学先进微结构协同创新中心）；Jiangsu Physical Science Research Center（江苏物理科学研究中心）；Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, People’s Republic of China（合肥国家实验室）
We develop a partial charge-spin separation fermion-spin theory implemented the gauge invariant dressed holon and spinon. In this novel approach, the physical electron is decoupled as the gauge invariant dressed holon and spinon, with the dressed holon behaviors like a spinful fermion, and represents the charge degree of freedom together with the phase part of the spin degree of freedom, while the dressed spinon is a hard-core boson, and represents the amplitude part of the spin degree of freedom, then the electron single occupancy local constraint is satisfied. Within this approach, the charg…
An exactly solvable model describing the dilute spin-3/2 fermion gas in one-dimensional optical trap is proposed. The diagonalization of the model Hamiltonian is derived by means of the Bethe ansatz method. Exotic spin excitations such as the heavy spinon with fractional spin 3/2, the neutral spinon with spin zero and the dressed spinon with spin 1/2 are found based on the exact solution.
Two-dimensional triangular-lattice antiferromagnets are predicted under some conditions to exhibit a quantum spin liquid ground state whose low-energy behavior is described by a spinon Fermi surface. Directly imaging the resulting spinons, however, is difficult due to their fractional, chargeless nature. Here we use scanning tunneling spectroscopy to image spinon density modulations arising from a spinon Fermi surface instability in single-layer 1T-TaSe$_2$, a two-dimensional Mott insulator. We first demonstrate the existence of localized spins arranged on a triangular lattice in single-layer …
Recent experiments on the organic compound κ-(ET)_2Cu_2(CN)_3 have provided a promising example of a two dimensional spin liquid state. This phase is described by a two-dimensional spinon Fermi sea coupled to a U(1) gauge field. We study Kohn-Luttinger-like pairing instabilities of the spinon Fermi surface due to singular interaction processes with twice-the-Fermi-momentum transfer. We find that under certain circumstances the pairing instability occurs in odd-orbital-angular-momentum/spin-triplet channels. Implications to experiments are discussed.
The Kitaev model with an applied magnetic field in the $H||[111]$ direction shows two transitions: from a non-abelian gapped quantum spin liquid (QSL) to a gapless QSL at $H_{c1} \simeq 0.2K$ and a second transition at a higher field $H_{c2} \simeq 0.35K$ to a gapped partially polarized phase, where $K$ is the strength of the Kitaev exchange interaction. We identify the intermediate phase to be a gapless U(1) QSL and determine the spin structure function $S({\bf k}) $ and the Fermi surface $ε_F^S({\bf k})$ of the gapless spinons using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method for …
A partial charge-spin separation fermion-spin theory is developed to study the normal-state properties of the underdoped cuprates. In this approach, the physical electron is decoupled as a gauge invariant dressed holon and spinon, with the dressed holon behaving like a spinful fermion, and represents the charge degree of freedom together with the phase part of the spin degree of freedom, while the dressed spinon is a hard-core boson, and representing the amplitude part of the spin degree of freedom. The electron local constraint for single occupancy is satisfied. Within this approach, the char…
We present new experimental low-temperature heat capacity and detailed dynamical spin-structure factor data for the quantum spin liquid candidate material Ca$_{10}$Cr$_7$O$_{28}$. The measured heat capacity shows an almost perfect linear temperature dependence in the range $0.1$ K $\lesssim T\lesssim0.5$ K, reminiscent of fermionic spinon degrees of freedom. The spin structure factor exhibits two energy regimes of strong signal which display rather different but solely diffuse scattering features. We theoretically describe these findings by an effective spinon hopping model which crucially rel…
Spin excitations in an ordered Heisenberg magnet are magnons--bosons with spin 1. That may change when frustration and quantum fluctuations suppress the order and restore the spin-rotation symmetry. We show that spin excitations in the $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on kagome are spinons--fermions with spin 1/2. In the ground state the system can be described as a collection of small, heavy pairs of spinons with spin 0. A magnetic excitation of lowest energy amounts to breaking up a pair into two spinons at a cost of $0.06 J$.
We study the transverse dynamical spin susceptibility of the two dimensional U(1) spinon Fermi surface spin liquid in a small applied Zeeman field. We show that both short-range interactions, present in a generic Fermi liquid, as well as gauge fluctuations, characteristic of the U(1) spin liquid, qualitatively change the result based on the frequently assumed non-interacting spinon approximation. Short-range interaction leads to a new collective mode: a "spinon spin wave" which splits off from the two-spinon continuum at small momentum and disperses downward. Gauge fluctuations renormalize the…
We discuss the application of the two-band spin-dopon representation of the t-J model to address the issue of the Fermi surface reconstruction observed in the cuprates. We show that the electron no double occupancy (NDO) constraint plays a key role in this formulation. In particular, the auxiliary lattice spin and itinerant dopon degrees of freedom of the spin-dopon formulation of the t-J model are shown to be confined in the emergent U(1) gauge theory generated by the NDO constraint. This constraint is enforced by the requirement of an infinitely large spin-dopon coupling. As a result, the t-…
We introduce an exactly solvable SU(2) symmetric Kitaev model with exotic spin excitations. With time reversal symmetry (TRS), the ground state is a spin liquid with gapless or gapped spin-1 but fermionic excitations. When TRS is broken, the resulting spin liquid exhibits deconfined vortex excitations which carry spin-1/2 quantum number and obey non-Abelian statistics. We show that this SU(2) invariant non-Abelian spin liquid exhibits spin quantum Hall effect with quantized spin Hall conductivity σ^s_{xy}=\hbar/2π, and that the spin response is effectively described the SO(3) level-1 Chern-Sim…
We solve the problem of a magnetic impurity coupled to a U(1) quantum spin liquid with spinon Fermi surface and compute the impurity spectral function. Using the slave rotor mean field approach combined with gauge field fluctuations, we find that a peak located at the top of the lower Hubbard band and one at the bottom of the upper Hubbard band can emerge in the impurity spectral function. The peaks at the Hubbard band edges arise from the gauge field fluctuations induced spinon chargon binding inside the spinon Kondo screening cloud of the magnetic impurity. For a magnetic impurity embedded i…
Scaling Breakdown as a Signature of Spinon-Gauge Interaction in the Quantum Spin Liquid YbZn$_2$GaO$_5$
Washington University in St. Louis（华盛顿大学圣路易斯分校）；National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室国家高磁场实验室）；Duke University（杜克大学）
A recent experiment has reported oscillations of the thermal conductivity of $α$-RuCl$_3$ driven by an in-plane magnetic field that are reminiscent of the quantum oscillations in metals. At first glance, these observations are consistent with the presence of the long-sought-after spinon Fermi surface state. Strikingly, however, the experiment also reported vanishing thermal Hall conductivity coexisting with the oscillations of the longitudinal one. Such absence of the thermal Hall effect must originate from crystalline symmetries of $α$-RuCl$_3$. But if the system was a traditional spinon ferm…
Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter that may be realized in frustrated quantum magnets and feature fractionalized excitations and emergent gauge fields. Here, we consider a gapless U(1) spin liquid with spinon Fermi pockets in two spatial dimensions. Such a state appears to be the most promising candidate to describe the exotic field-induced behavior observed in numerical simulations of the antiferromagnetic Kitaev honeycomb model. A similar such state may also be responsible for the recently-reported quantum oscillations of the thermal conductivity in the field-induced quantum pa…
The exact one-to-one mapping between (spinless) Jordan-Wigner lattice fermions and (spin-1/2) spinons is established for all eigenstates of the one-dimensional s = 1=2 XX model on a lattice with an even or odd number N of lattice sites and periodic boundary conditions. Exact product formulas for the transition rates derived via Bethe ansatz are used to calculate asymptotic expressions of the 2-spinon and 4-spinon parts (for large even N) as well as of the 1-spinon and 3-spinon parts (for large odd N) of the dynamic spin structure factors. The observability of these spectral contributions is as…
Gauge-constrained Spinon Complexes Near Deconfined Quantum Criticality
University of Tokyo（东京大学）；Institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Tokyo（东京大学固体物理研究所）；Trans-scale Quantum Science Institute, The University of Tokyo（东京大学跨尺度量子科学研究所）；University of Chongqing（重庆大学）；Department of Physics, University of Chongqing（重庆大学物理学院）
In this paper the spin configurations of the ground state and one- and two-electron excited states of the Hubbard model on the square lattice are studied. We profit from a general rotated-electron description, which is consistent with the model global $SO(3)\times SO(3)\times U(1)$ symmetry. For rotated electrons, doubly and single occupancy are good quantum numbers for on-site repulsion $U>0$. The above states are within that description generated by occupancy configurations of charge $c$ fermions and spin-singlet two-spinon $s1$ bond particles. Those describe the charge and spin degrees of f…
Triangular lattice of rare-earth ions with interacting effective spin-$1/2$ local moments is an ideal platform to explore the physics of quantum spin liquids (QSLs) in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling, crystal electric fields, and geometrical frustration. The Yb delafossites, NaYbCh$_2$ (Ch=O, S, Se) with Yb ions forming a perfect triangular lattice, have been suggested to be candidates for QSLs. Previous thermodynamics, nuclear magnetic resonance, and muon spin rotation measurements on NaYbCh$_2$ have supported the suggestion of the QSL ground states. The key signature of a QSL, the…
Motivated by the recent proposal of the spinon Fermi surface spin liquids for several candidate materials such as YbMgGaO4, we explore the experimental consequences of the external magnetic fields on this exotic state. Specifically, we focus on the weak field regime where the spin liquid state is well preserved and the spinon remain to be a good description of the magnetic excitations. From the spin-1/2 nature of the spinon excitation, we predict the unique features of the spinon continuum when the weak magnetic field is applied to the system. Due to the small energy scale of the exchange inte…
We consider orbital magnetic field effects in a spin liquid phase of a half-filled triangular lattice Hubbard system close to the Mott transition, continuing an earlier exploration of a state with spinon Fermi surface. Starting from the Hubbard model and focusing on the insulator side, we derive an effective spin Hamiltonian up to four-spin exchanges in the presence of magnetic field, and find that the magnetic field couples linearly to spin chirality on the triangles. The latter corresponds to a flux of an internal gauge field in a gauge theory description of the spin liquid, and therefore a …
Recent theoretical studies have found quantum spin liquid states with spinon Fermi surfaces upon the application of a magnetic field on a gapped state with topological order. We investigate the thermal Hall conductivity across this transition, describing how the quantized thermal Hall conductivity of the gapped state changes to an unquantized thermal Hall conductivity in the gapless spinon Fermi surface state. We consider two cases, both of potential experimental interest: the state with non-Abelian Ising topological order on the honeycomb lattice, and the state with Abelian chiral spin liquid…
We systematically study the exclusion statistics for quasi-particles for Conformal Field Theory spectra by employing a method based on recursion relations for truncated spectra. Our examples include generalized fermions in c<1 unitary minimal models, Z_k parafermions, and spinons for the su(n)_1, so(n)_1 and sp(2n)_1 Wess-Zumino-Witten models. For some of the latter examples we present explicit expressions for finitized affine characters and for the N-spinon decomposition of affine characters.
We have studied a system of light bosonic spinons interacting with compact gauge fields. By the generalization of the works by Polyakov on compact gauge fields the system is mapped to monopole plasma model and a model of open surfaces coupled to antisymmetric Kalb-Ramond gauge fields. The monopole correlation function in the presence of light spinon is computed based on these two models.
