Model of chiral spin liquids with Abelian and non-Abelian topological phases

Jyong-Hao Chen, Christopher Mudry, Claudio Chamon, and A. M. Tsvelik
Phys. Rev. B 96, 224420 – Published 15 December 2017

Abstract

We present a two-dimensional lattice model for quantum spin-1/2 for which the low-energy limit is governed by four flavors of strongly interacting Majorana fermions. We study this low-energy effective theory using two alternative approaches. The first consists of a mean-field approximation. The second consists of a random phase approximation (RPA) for the single-particle Green's functions of the Majorana fermions built from their exact forms in a certain one-dimensional limit. The resulting phase diagram consists of two competing chiral phases, one with Abelian and the other with non-Abelian topological order, separated by a continuous phase transition. Remarkably, the Majorana fermions propagate in the two-dimensional bulk, as in the Kitaev model for a spin liquid on the honeycomb lattice. We identify the vison fields, which are mobile (they are static in the Kitaev model) domain walls propagating along only one of the two space directions.

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  • Received 5 September 2017
  • Revised 3 November 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.96.224420

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Jyong-Hao Chen1, Christopher Mudry1, Claudio Chamon2, and A. M. Tsvelik3

  • 1Condensed Matter Theory Group, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
  • 2Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
  • 3Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000, USA

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 22 — 1 December 2017

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