Work

Gapless spin liquid in the kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: A preponderance of evidence suggests that the ground state of the nearest-neighbor $S=1/2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice is a gapless spin liquid. Many candidate materials for the realization of this model possess in addition a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction. We study this system by tensor-network methods and deduce that a weak but finite DM interaction is required to destabilize the gapless spin-liquid state. The critical magnitude, ${D}_{c}/J\ensuremath{\simeq}0.012(2)$, lies well below the DM strength proposed in the kagome material herbertsmithite, indicating a need to reassess the apparent spin-liquid behavior reported in this system.

Source: Physical review. B./Physical review. B

DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.98.224414

Authors: Chih-Yuan Lee, B. Normand, Ying-Jer Kao

Institutions: National Taiwan University, Paul Scherrer Institute, Boston University, National Tsing Hua University

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Awards: Quantum Materials Workshops and Scientist Exchange Program, Taiwan Quantum Software Foundry--Optimization and Application, Studies of Symmetry Protected Topological Phases Using Non-Equilibrium Numerical Methods