Helical edge modes in a triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Pradenas, Bastian, Adamyan, Grigor, Tchernyshyov, Oleg
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Pradenas, Bastian
Adamyan, Grigor
Tchernyshyov, Oleg
author_facet Pradenas, Bastian
Adamyan, Grigor
Tchernyshyov, Oleg
contents We investigate the emergence of helical edge modes in a Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice, driven by a topological mechanism similar to that proposed by Dong et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 206701 (2023)] for chiral spin waves in ferromagnets. The spin-frame field theory of a three-sublattice antiferromagnet allows for a topological term in the energy that modifies the boundary conditions for certain polarizations of spin waves and gives rise to edge modes. These edge modes are helical: modes with left and right circular polarizations propagate in opposite directions along the boundary in a way reminiscent of the electron edge modes in two-dimensional topological insulators. The field-theoretic arguments are verified in a realistic lattice model of a Heisenberg antiferromagnet with superexchange interactions that exhibits helical edge modes. The strength of the topological term is proportional to the disparity between two inequivalent superexchange paths. These findings suggest potential avenues for realizing magnonic edge states in frustrated antiferromagnets without requiring Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions or nontrivial magnon band topology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_10062
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Helical edge modes in a triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet
Pradenas, Bastian
Adamyan, Grigor
Tchernyshyov, Oleg
Strongly Correlated Electrons
We investigate the emergence of helical edge modes in a Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice, driven by a topological mechanism similar to that proposed by Dong et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 206701 (2023)] for chiral spin waves in ferromagnets. The spin-frame field theory of a three-sublattice antiferromagnet allows for a topological term in the energy that modifies the boundary conditions for certain polarizations of spin waves and gives rise to edge modes. These edge modes are helical: modes with left and right circular polarizations propagate in opposite directions along the boundary in a way reminiscent of the electron edge modes in two-dimensional topological insulators. The field-theoretic arguments are verified in a realistic lattice model of a Heisenberg antiferromagnet with superexchange interactions that exhibits helical edge modes. The strength of the topological term is proportional to the disparity between two inequivalent superexchange paths. These findings suggest potential avenues for realizing magnonic edge states in frustrated antiferromagnets without requiring Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions or nontrivial magnon band topology.
title Helical edge modes in a triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10062