Schwinger boson theory for $S=1$ Kitaev quantum spin liquids

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Sasamoto, Daiki, Nasu, Joji
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866915524440489984
author Sasamoto, Daiki
Nasu, Joji
author_facet Sasamoto, Daiki
Nasu, Joji
contents The Kitaev model is an exactly solvable model with a quantum spin liquid ground state. While this model was originally proposed as an $S=1/2$ spin model on a honeycomb lattice, extensions to higher-spin systems have recently attracted attention. In contrast to the $S=1/2$ case, such higher-$S$ models are not exactly solvable and remain poorly understood, particularly for spin excitations at finite temperatures. Here, we focus on the $S=1$ Kitaev model, which is proposed to host bosonic quasiparticles. We investigate this model using Schwinger boson mean-field theory, introducing bosonic spinons as fractional quasiparticles by extending bond operators to address anisotropic spin interactions. We determine the mean-field parameters that realize a quantum spin liquid in both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Kitaev models. Based on this ansatz, we calculate dynamical and equal-time spin structure factors. We find that the conventional scheme based on Wick decoupling with respect to spinons yields unphysical momentum dependence: it produces strong spectral weight indicating ferromagnetic (antiferromagnetic) correlations in the antiferromagnetic (ferromagnetic) Kitaev model. To resolve this issue, we propose an alternative evaluation based on decoupling with respect to bond operators. We demonstrate that, in our scheme, such unphysical behavior disappears and the momentum dependence of the spin structure factors is consistent with the sign of the exchange constant. We also compute the temperature evolution of the dynamical spin structure factor and find that the zero-temperature continuum splits into two distinct structures as temperature increases, which can be understood in terms of the bandwidth narrowing of spinons. Finally, we clarify why the two decoupling schemes result in different momentum dependences and discuss their relationship to previous studies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_25761
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Schwinger boson theory for $S=1$ Kitaev quantum spin liquids
Sasamoto, Daiki
Nasu, Joji
Strongly Correlated Electrons
The Kitaev model is an exactly solvable model with a quantum spin liquid ground state. While this model was originally proposed as an $S=1/2$ spin model on a honeycomb lattice, extensions to higher-spin systems have recently attracted attention. In contrast to the $S=1/2$ case, such higher-$S$ models are not exactly solvable and remain poorly understood, particularly for spin excitations at finite temperatures. Here, we focus on the $S=1$ Kitaev model, which is proposed to host bosonic quasiparticles. We investigate this model using Schwinger boson mean-field theory, introducing bosonic spinons as fractional quasiparticles by extending bond operators to address anisotropic spin interactions. We determine the mean-field parameters that realize a quantum spin liquid in both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Kitaev models. Based on this ansatz, we calculate dynamical and equal-time spin structure factors. We find that the conventional scheme based on Wick decoupling with respect to spinons yields unphysical momentum dependence: it produces strong spectral weight indicating ferromagnetic (antiferromagnetic) correlations in the antiferromagnetic (ferromagnetic) Kitaev model. To resolve this issue, we propose an alternative evaluation based on decoupling with respect to bond operators. We demonstrate that, in our scheme, such unphysical behavior disappears and the momentum dependence of the spin structure factors is consistent with the sign of the exchange constant. We also compute the temperature evolution of the dynamical spin structure factor and find that the zero-temperature continuum splits into two distinct structures as temperature increases, which can be understood in terms of the bandwidth narrowing of spinons. Finally, we clarify why the two decoupling schemes result in different momentum dependences and discuss their relationship to previous studies.
title Schwinger boson theory for $S=1$ Kitaev quantum spin liquids
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25761