Ground State of the Spin-1/2 Honeycomb Γ Model: Zigzag Magnetic Order

ORAL

Abstract

The off-diagonal symmetric interaction, Γ ( Siα Sβi+γ + Siβ Sαi+γ ), has sprung to prominence
as a competing term in the spin Hamiltonians of candidate Kitaev materials. We investigate
the quantum (S = 1/2) Γ model on the honeycomb lattice using the tensor-network method of
infinite projected entangled pair states (iPEPS). We demonstrate that the ground state is a
zigzag magnetically ordered state, rather than the spin liquid reported on the basis of density-matrix
renormalization-group (DMRG) studies. By applying two quasi-one-dimensional numerical
treatments, the infinite matrix-product-state (iMPS) and DMRG methods, we show that
this contrast is a consequence of the system size considered. Thus the quantum Γ model
is quite different from its classical counterpart, which is a classical spin liquid due to its
macroscopic ground-state degeneracy.

Presenters

  • Hai-Jun Liao

    • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 603, Beijing 100190, China

Authors

  • Hai-Jun Liao

    • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 603, Beijing 100190, China
  • RuiZhen Huang

    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 603, Beijing 100190, China
  • Yi-Bin Guo

    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 603, Beijing 100190, China
  • Zhi-Yuan Xie

    • Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
  • Bruce Normand

    • Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
    • Paul Scherrer Institute
    • Neutrons and Muons Research Division, Paul Scherrer Institute
    • Paul Scherer Institute, Vilingen
    • Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
  • Tao Xiang

    • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
    • Institute of Physics
    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    • Institute of Physics, CAS
    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 603, Beijing 100190, China