Theoretical Physics Seminar – Maria Hermanns

Maria Hermanns: Kitaev spin liquids

Abstract

Most magnetic materials order at sufficiently low temperatures. Quantum spin liquids are an exception to this rule, as quantum fluctuations prevent the local magnetic moments from ordering, even down to zero temperature. Instead, the local moments form a strongly correlated quantum liquid with many fascinating properties, such as the emergence of fractionalized excitations and long-range entanglement.

In this talk, I want to discuss a special class of quantum spin liquids called Kitaev spin liquids. These are ideal model systems that allow us to study quantum spin liquids and their properties, as they are exactly solvable (both in 2D and 3D) and harbor a large variety of gapped and gapless spin liquid phases. I will explain the mechanism of spin fractionalization and how to solve Kitaev spin liquid models, as well as discuss their properties and (thermodynamic) signatures and how those relate to recent experiments performed on certain Iridates and RuCl3.

The seminar is held digitally via Zoom

Zoom-link: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/68654155504

Read more about the seminar series

Theoretical Physics Seminar