We study the Kitaev spin-$1/2$ ladder, a model which exhibits self-localization due to fractionalization caused by exchange frustration. When a weak magnetic field is applied, the model is described by an effective fermionic Hamiltonian, with an additional time reversal symmetry breaking term. We show that this term alone is not capable of delocalizing the system but flux mobility is a prerequisite. For magnetic fields larger but comparable to the flux gap, fluxes become mobile and drive the system into a delocalized regime, featuring finite dc transport coefficients. Our findings are based on numerical techniques, exact diagonalization and dynamical quantum typicality, from which, we present results for the specific heat, the dynamical energy current correlation function, as well as the inverse participation ratio, contrasting the spin against the fermion representation. Implications of our results for two-dimensional extensions of the model will be speculated on.
In this work, we analyze the nonsymmorphic symmetry group structures for a variety of generalized Kitaev spin chains and ladders with bond alternations, including Kitaev-Gamma chain, Kitaev-Heisenberg-Gamma chain, beyond nearest neighbor interactions, and two-leg spin ladders. The symmetry analysis is applied to determine the symmetry breaking patterns of several magnetically ordered phases in the bond-alternating Kitaev-Gamma spin chains, as well as the dimerization order parameters for spontaneous dimerizations. Our work is useful in understanding the magnetic phases in related models and ma…
We study the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Kitaev-Heisenberg (KJ) model in a two-leg ladder. Without a Heisenberg interaction, the Kitaev phase in the ladder model has Majorana fermions with local Z$_2$ gauge fields, and is usually described as a disordered phase without any order parameter. Here we prove the existence of a non-local string order parameter (SOP) in the Kitaev phase which survives with a finite Heisenberg interaction. The SOP is obtained by relating the Kitaev ladder, through a non-local unitary transformation, to a one-dimensional $XY$ chain with an Ising coupling to a dangling spin at e…
We study the ground state and low-lying excited states of the Kitaev-Heisenberg model on a ladder geometry using the density matrix renormalization group and Lanczos exact diagonalization methods. The Kitaev and Heisenberg interactions are parametrized as $K=\sinϕ$ and $J=\cosϕ$ with an angle parameter $ϕ$. Based on the results for several types of order parameters, excitation gaps, and entanglement spectra, the $ϕ$-dependent ground-state phase diagram is determined. Remarkably, the phase diagram is quite similar to that of the Kitaev-Heisenberg model on a honeycomb lattice, exhibiting the sam…
We identify fingerprints of a proximate quantum spin-liquid (QSL), observable by finite-temperature dynamical thermal transport within a minimal version of the idealized Kitaev model on a two-leg ladder, if subjected to inevitably present Heisenberg couplings. Using exact diagonalization and quantum typicality, we uncover (i) an insulator-conductor crossover induced by fracton recombination at infinitesimal Heisenberg coupling, (ii) low- and high-energy signatures of fractons, which survive far off the pure QSL point, and (iii) a non-monotonous current life-time versus Heisenberg couplings. Gu…
We explore the salient features of the `Kitaev ladder', a two-legged ladder version of the spin-1/2 Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice, by mapping it to a one-dimensional fermionic p-wave superconducting system. We examine the connections between spin phases and topologically non-trivial phases of non-interacting fermionic systems, demonstrating the equivalence between the spontaneous breaking of global Z2 symmetry in spin systems and the existence of isolated Majorana modes. In the Kitaev ladder, we investigate topological properties of the system in different sectors characterized by the pr…
We report the existence of \emph{flat bands} in a p-wave superconducting Kitaev ladder. We identify two sets of parameters for which the Kitaev ladder sustains flat bands. These flat bands are accompanied by highly localized eigenstates known as compact localized states. Invoking a Bogoliubov transformation, the Kitaev ladder can be mapped into an interlinked cross-stitch lattice. The mapping helps to reveal the compactness of the eigenstates each of which covers only two unit cells of the interlinked cross-stitch lattice. The Kitaev Hamiltonian undergoes a topological-to-trivial phase transit…
The bond-dependent Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice with anyonic excitations has recently attracted considerable attention. However, in solid state materials other spin interactions are present, and among such additional interactions, the off-diagonal symmetric Gamma interaction, another type of bond-dependent term, has been particularly challenging to fully understand. A minimal Kitaev-Gamma (KG) model has been investigated by various numerical techniques under a magnetic field, but definite conclusions about field-induced spin liquids remain elusive and one reason may lie in the limited…
We study the Kitaev spin ladder with random couplings by using the real-space renormalization group technique. This model is the minimum model in Kitaev systems that has conserved plaquette fluxes, and its quasi-one-dimensional geometry makes it possible to study the strong-disorder fixed points for both spin- and flux- excitation gaps. In the Ising limit, the behavior of the spin gap is consistent with the familiar random transverse-field Ising chain, but the flux gap is dominated by the y-coupling. In the XX limit, while the x- and y-couplings are renormalized simultaneously, the z-couplings…
We show that in double-chain Mott insulators (ladders), disordered alternating ionic potentials may locally destroy coherence of magnetic excitations and lead to the appearance of spontaneously dimerized islands inside the Haldane spin-liquid phase. We argue that a boundary between the dimerized and Haldane phases of a spin-1/2 ladder supports a localized zero-energy Majorana fermion mode. Based on these findings we suggest a realization of a generalized Kitaev model where Majorana fermions can propagate in more than one dimension.
Kinetic obstruction to pairing in the doped Kitaev-Heisenberg ladder
University of Missouri（密苏里大学）；University of Tennessee（田纳西大学）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；Quantum Science Center（量子科学中心）；Materials Science and Engineering Institute, University of Missouri（密苏里大学材料科学与工程研究所）
We realize a gapless Majorana Orbital Liquid (MOL) using orbital degrees of freedom and also an SU(2)-invariant Majorana Spin Liquid (MSL) using both spin and orbital degrees of freedom in Kitaev-type models on a 2-leg ladder. The models are exactly solvable by Kitaev's parton approach, and we obtain long-wavelength descriptions for both Majorana liquids. The MOL has one gapless mode and power law correlations in energy at incommensuare wavevectors, while the SU(2) MSL has three gapless modes and power law correlations in spin, spin-nematic, and local energy observables. We study the stability…
We study the interplay between the Kitaev and Ising interactions on both ladder and two dimensional lattices. We show that the ground state of the Kitaev ladder is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, which is protected by a $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. It is confirmed by the degeneracy of the entanglement spectrum and non-trivial phase factors (inequivalent projective representations of the symmetries), which are obtained within infinite matrix-product representation of numerical density matrix renormalization group. We derive the effective theory to describe the topo…
An explicit $\textit{spatial}$ localization of a hole is shown in a two-leg $t$-$J$ ladder in the presence of a staggered chemical potential, which still retains a translational symmetry, by density matrix renormalization group method. Delocalization can be recovered in the following cases, where either the hidden phase string effect is turned off or a finite next-nearest-neighbor hopping $t'$ is added to sufficiently weaken the phase string effect. In addition, two holes are always delocalized by forming a mobile bound pair, in contrast to the localized single holes, which points to a novel p…
A time-reversal invariant Kitaev-type model is introduced in which spins (Dirac matrices) on the square lattice interact via anisotropic nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor exchange interactions. The model is exactly solved by mapping it onto a tight-binding model of free Majorana fermions coupled with static Z_2 gauge fields. The Majorana fermion model can be viewed as a model of time-reversal invariant superconductor and is classified as a member of symmetry class DIII in the Altland-Zirnbauer classification. The ground-state phase diagram has two topologically distinct gapped phases …
Relationship between doping-induced in-gap states and spin excitations in Kitaev-Hubbard models
Department of Physics, Nanjing University（南京大学物理学院）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University（南京大学先进微结构协同创新中心）；Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Quantum Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University（南京大学江苏省量子信息科学与技术重点实验室）；Department of Applied Physics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology（南京理工大学应用物理系）
We study the ground-state phase diagram of an interacting staggered Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) ladder in the vicinity of the Gaussian quantum critical point. The corresponding effective field theory is a double-frequency sine-Gordon (DSG) model which involves two perturbations at the Gaussian fixed point: the deviation from criticality and Umklapp scattering processes. A topological distinction between thermodynamically equivalent phases becomes only feasible when nonlocal fermionic fields, parity and string order parameter, are included into consideration. We prove that a noninteracting fermi…
The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model attracts attention in the context of information scrambling, which represents delocalization of quantum information and is quantified by the out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOC). The SYK model contains $N$ fermions with disordered and four-body interactions. Here, we introduce a variant of the SYK model, which we refer to as the Wishart SYK model. We investigate the Wishart SYK model for complex fermions and that for hard-core bosons. We show that the ground state of the Wishart SYK model is massively degenerate and the residual entropy is extensive, and tha…
Periodically driven quantum many-body systems support anomalous topological phases of matter, which cannot be realized by static systems. In many cases, these anomalous phases can be many-body localized, which implies that they are stable and do not heat up as a result of the driving. What types of anomalous topological phenomena can be stabilized in driven systems, and in particular, can an anomalous phase exhibiting non-Abelian anyons be stabilized? We address this question using an exactly solvable, stroboscopically driven 2D Kitaev spin model, in which anisotropic exchange couplings are bo…
Using the self-consistent Born approximation we study the delocalization of interlayer excitons in the bilayer Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet. Under realistic conditions we find that the coupling between the exciton motion and the spin system is strongly enhanced as compared to the case of a single carrier, to a degree that it mimics the confinement physics of carriers in Ising spin systems. We predict that the "ladder spectrum" associated with this confinement physics should be visible in the c-axis exciton spectra of insulating bilayer cuprates such as YBa2Cu3O6. Our discovery indicates …
Disordered quantum systems undergoing a many-body localization (MBL) transition fail to reach thermal equilibrium under their own dynamics. Distinguishing between asymptotically localized or delocalized dynamics based on numerical results is however nontrivial due to finite-size effects. Numerical linked cluster expansions (NLCE) provide a means to tackle quantum systems directly in the thermodynamic limit, but are challenging for models without translational invariance. Here, we demonstrate that NLCE provide a powerful tool to explore MBL by simulating quench dynamics in disordered spin-$1/2$…
We study the dynamical thermal conductivity of the Kitaev spin model on a two-leg ladder. In contrast to conventional integrable one-dimensional spin systems, we show that heat transport is completely dissipative. This is a direct consequence of fractionalization of spins into mobile Majorana matter and a static $Z_{2}$ gauge field, which acts as an emergent thermally activated disorder. Our finding rests on three complementary calculations of the current correlation function, comprising a phenomenological mean-field treatment of thermal gauge fluctuations, a complete summation over all gauge …
We theoretically address spin chain analogs of the Kitaev quantum spin model on the honeycomb lattice. The emergent quantum spin liquid phases or Anderson resonating valence bond (RVB) states can be understood, as an effective model, in terms of p-wave superconductivity and Majorana fermions. We derive a generalized phase diagram for the two-leg ladder system with tunable interaction strengths between chains allowing us to vary the shape of the lattice (from square to honeycomb ribbon or brickwall ladder). We evaluate the winding number associated with possible emergent (topological) gapless m…
We study a model in (2+1)-dimensional spacetime that is realized by an array of chains, each of which realizes relativistic Majorana fields in (1+1)-dimensional spacetime, coupled via current-current interactions. The model is shown to have a lattice realization in an array of two-leg quantum spin-1/2 ladders. We study the model both in the presence and absence of time-reversal symmetry, within a mean-field approximation. We find regimes in coupling space where Abelian and non-Abelian spin liquid phases are stable. In the case when the Hamiltonian is time-reversal symmetric, we find regimes wh…
Transient localization from fractionalization: vanishingly small heat conductivity in gapless quantum magnets
Technical University of Munich（慕尼黑工业大学）；Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST)（慕尼黑量子科学与工程中心）；The Ohio State University（俄亥俄州立大学）；Imperial College London（帝国理工学院）
