Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory

Motivated by the recent numerical evidence [Z. Meng, T. Lang, S. Wessel, F. Assaad, and A. Muramatsu, Nature (London) 464, 847 (2010)] of a short-range resonating valence bond state in the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model, we consider Schwinger boson mean field theories of possible spin liquid states...

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Main Author: Wang, Fa
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Physical Society 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60872
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author Wang, Fa
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Wang, Fa
author_sort Wang, Fa
collection MIT
description Motivated by the recent numerical evidence [Z. Meng, T. Lang, S. Wessel, F. Assaad, and A. Muramatsu, Nature (London) 464, 847 (2010)] of a short-range resonating valence bond state in the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model, we consider Schwinger boson mean field theories of possible spin liquid states on honeycomb lattice. From general stability considerations the possible spin liquids will have gapped spinons coupled to Z(subscript 2) gauge field. We apply the projective symmetry group method to classify possible Z2 spin liquid states within this formalism on honeycomb lattice. It is found that there are only two relevant Z(subscript 2) states, differed by the value of gauge flux, zero or π, in the elementary hexagon. The zero-flux state is a promising candidate for the observed spin liquid and continuous phase transition into commensurate Néel order. We also derive the critical field theory for this transition, which is the well-studied O(4) invariant theory [A. V. Chubukov, T. Senthil, and S. Sachdev, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2089 (1994); A. V. Chubukov, S. Sachdev, and T. Senthil, Nucl. Phys. B 426, 601 (1994); S. V. Isakov, T. Senthil, and Y. B. Kim, Phys. Rev. B 72, 174417 (2005)], and has an irrelevant coupling between Higgs and boson fields with cubic power of spatial derivatives as required by lattice symmetry. This is in sharp contrast to the conventional theory [S. Sachdev and N. Read, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 5, 219 (1991)], where such transition generically leads to incommensurate magnetic order. In this scenario the Z2 spin liquid could be close to a tricritical point. Soft boson modes will exist at seven different wave vectors. This will show up as low-frequency dynamical spin susceptibility peaks not only at the Γ point (the Néel order wave vector) but also at Brillouin-zone-edge center M points and twelve other points. Some simple properties of the π-flux state are studied as well. Symmetry allowed further neighbor mean field ansatz are derived in appendices which can be used in future theoretical works along this direction.
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spelling mit-1721.1/608722022-10-01T17:42:18Z Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory Wang, Fa Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Wang, Fa Wang, Fa Motivated by the recent numerical evidence [Z. Meng, T. Lang, S. Wessel, F. Assaad, and A. Muramatsu, Nature (London) 464, 847 (2010)] of a short-range resonating valence bond state in the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model, we consider Schwinger boson mean field theories of possible spin liquid states on honeycomb lattice. From general stability considerations the possible spin liquids will have gapped spinons coupled to Z(subscript 2) gauge field. We apply the projective symmetry group method to classify possible Z2 spin liquid states within this formalism on honeycomb lattice. It is found that there are only two relevant Z(subscript 2) states, differed by the value of gauge flux, zero or π, in the elementary hexagon. The zero-flux state is a promising candidate for the observed spin liquid and continuous phase transition into commensurate Néel order. We also derive the critical field theory for this transition, which is the well-studied O(4) invariant theory [A. V. Chubukov, T. Senthil, and S. Sachdev, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2089 (1994); A. V. Chubukov, S. Sachdev, and T. Senthil, Nucl. Phys. B 426, 601 (1994); S. V. Isakov, T. Senthil, and Y. B. Kim, Phys. Rev. B 72, 174417 (2005)], and has an irrelevant coupling between Higgs and boson fields with cubic power of spatial derivatives as required by lattice symmetry. This is in sharp contrast to the conventional theory [S. Sachdev and N. Read, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 5, 219 (1991)], where such transition generically leads to incommensurate magnetic order. In this scenario the Z2 spin liquid could be close to a tricritical point. Soft boson modes will exist at seven different wave vectors. This will show up as low-frequency dynamical spin susceptibility peaks not only at the Γ point (the Néel order wave vector) but also at Brillouin-zone-edge center M points and twelve other points. Some simple properties of the π-flux state are studied as well. Symmetry allowed further neighbor mean field ansatz are derived in appendices which can be used in future theoretical works along this direction. 2011-02-01T13:55:51Z 2011-02-01T13:55:51Z 2010-07 2010-05 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1098-0121 1550-235x http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60872 Wang, Fa. "Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory." Physical Review B 83.2 (2010): 024419. © 2010 The American Physical Society en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.024419 Physical Review B Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Physical Society APS
spellingShingle Wang, Fa
Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
title Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
title_full Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
title_fullStr Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
title_full_unstemmed Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
title_short Schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice: Projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
title_sort schwinger boson mean field theories of spin liquid states on a honeycomb lattice projective symmetry group analysis and critical field theory
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60872
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