Quantum spin liquids in the absence of spin-rotation symmetry: application to Herbertsmithite

Abstract

It has been suggested that the nearest-neighbour (NN) antiferromagnetic Heisenberg (HAF) model on the Kagome lattice may be a good starting point to understand the quantum spin-liquid (QSL) behaviour discovered in Herbertsmithite. We investigate possible QSL phases in the presence of experimentally relevant spin-rotation symmetry-breaking perturbations such as Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and Ising interactions, as well as second-neighbour antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions. We use the projective symmetry group analysis within the slave-fermion framework of QSL phases and systematically classify possible QSLs in the presence of these perturbations. The dynamical spin-structure factor for relevant QSLs is computed and their effects are studied. Our calculations reveal dispersive features in the spin structure factor embedded in a generally diffuse background due to the existence of fractionalized S=1/2 excitations called spinons. For two of the previously proposed $Z_2$ states, the dispersive features are almost absent, and diffuse scattering dominates over a large energy window throughout the Brillouin zone. This resembles the structure factor observed in recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments on singlet crystals of Herbertsmithite. Furthermore, one of the $Z_2$ states with the spin structure factor with mostly diffuse scattering is gapped, and it may be adiabatically connected to the gapped QSL state observed in recent DMRG calculations for the NN HAF. The above perturbations are found to enhance the diffuse nature of the spin structure factor and reduce the momentum dependencies of the spin gap. We also calculate the electron spin resonance absorption spectra that further characterize the role of spin-rotation symmetry breaking perturbations, and can shed more light into the nature of the ground state in Herbertsmithite.

23 pages, 19 figures. References updated, typos fixed, discussion expanded

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Cited by in corpus (38)

• Quantum Spin Liquid States
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• Dynamical and Topological Properties of the Kitaev Model in a [111] Magnetic Field
• Projective symmetry group classification of chiral spin liquids
• Gapless chiral spin liquid in a kagome Heisenberg model
• Quantum Magnetism in Minerals
• Chiral spin liquid on kagome antiferromagnet induced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction
• Theory of Raman response in three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquids: application to $\beta -$ and $\gamma -$Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$ compounds
• Dynamics of a quantum spin liquid beyond integrability $-$ the Kitaev-Heisenberg-$\Gamma$ model in an augmented parton mean-field theory
• Statistics of fractionalized excitations through threshold spectroscopy
• Quantum Spin Liquid in a Breathing Kagome Lattice
• Spinon Fractionalization from Dynamic Structure Factor of Spin-1/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnet on the Kagome Lattice
• Generic nearest-neighbour kagome model: XYZ & Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya, and comparison to pyrochlore
• Interplay of non-symmorphic symmetry and spin-orbit coupling in hyperkagome spin liquids: Applications to Na${}_4$Ir${}_3$O${}_8$
• Classification of spin liquids on the square lattice with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Variational study of the ground state and spin dynamics of the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Kagome antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model and its implication on Hebertsmithite ZnCu${}_3$(OH)${}_6$Cl${}_2$
• Topological thermal Hall effect driven by fluctuation of spin chirality in frustrated antiferromagnets
• Static and dynamical signatures of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in the Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice
• Spin structure factors of chiral quantum spin liquids on the kagome lattice
• Uncovering footprints of dipolar-octupolar quantum spin ice from neutron scattering signatures
• Spinon magnetic resonance of quantum spin liquids
• ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ gauge theory for valence bond solids on the kagome lattice
• How correlations change the magnetic structure factor of the kagome Hubbard model
• Infrared phonons as a probe of a spin-liquid states in herbertsmithite ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2
• Projective symmetry group classifications of quantum spin liquids on the simple cubic, body centered cubic, and face centered cubic lattices
• Signatures for spinons in the quantum spin liquid candidate Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$
• Candidate quantum spin liquids on the maple-leaf lattice
• Quantum spin liquids on the diamond lattice
• Projective symmetry group classification of Abrikosov fermion mean-field ansätze on the square-octagon lattice
• Rapid filling of the spin gap with temperature in the Schwinger-boson mean-field theory of the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg kagome model
• Topological spinon bands and vison excitations in spin-orbit coupled quantum spin liquids
• Signatures of spin-triplet excitations in optical conductivity of valence bond solids
• Classification and emergence of quantum spin liquids in chiral Rydberg models
• Dynamic structure factor of the antiferromagnetic Kitaev model in large magnetic fields
• Interplay of uniform U(1) quantum spin liquid and magnetic phases in rare earth pyrochlore magnets : a fermionic parton approach
• Emergent Quantum Phenomena of Noncentrosymmetric Charge-Density Wave in 1T-Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
• Vison condensation and spinon confinement in a kagome-lattice ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ spin liquid: A numerical study of a quantum dimer model
• Dynamical spin correlations in kagome antiferromagnets: comparison of Abrikosov fermion and Schwinger boson approaches beyond mean field