Weyl spin liquids

The fractionalization of quantum numbers in interacting quantum many-body systems is a central motif in condensed-matter physics with prominent examples including the fractionalization of the electron in quantum Hall liquids or the emergence of magnetic monopoles in spin-ice materials. Here, we disc...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Physical review letters 2015-04, Vol.114 (15), p.157202-157202, Article 157202
Hauptverfasser: Hermanns, M, O'Brien, K, Trebst, S
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The fractionalization of quantum numbers in interacting quantum many-body systems is a central motif in condensed-matter physics with prominent examples including the fractionalization of the electron in quantum Hall liquids or the emergence of magnetic monopoles in spin-ice materials. Here, we discuss the fractionalization of magnetic moments in three-dimensional Kitaev models into Majorana fermions (and a Z_{2} gauge field) and their emergent collective behavior. We analytically demonstrate that the Majorana fermions form a Weyl superconductor for the Kitaev model on the recently synthesized hyperhoneycomb structure of β-Li_{2}IrO_{3} when applying a magnetic field. We characterize the topologically protected bulk and surface features of this state, which we dub a Weyl spin liquid, including thermodynamic and transport signatures.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.157202