Symmetry breaking via Kondo hybridization: Chiral nematic metal in Pr2Ir2O7

Abstract

In frustrated magnets when magnetic ordering is suppressed down to low temperature, the formation of a quantum spin liquid becomes a possibility. How such a spin liquid manifests in the presence of conduction electrons is a question with potentially rich physical consequences, particularly when both the localized spins and conduction electrons reside on frustrated lattices. We propose a novel mechanism for symmetry breaking in systems where conduction electrons hybridize with a quantum spin liquid through Kondo couplings. We apply this to the pyrochlore iridate Pr2Ir2O7, which exhibits an anomalous Hall effect without clear indications of magnetic order. We show that Kondo hybridization between the localized Pr pseudo-spins and Ir conduction electrons breaks some of the spatial symmetries, in addition to time-reversal regardless of the form ofthe coupling. These broken symmetries result in an anomalous Hall conductivity and induce small magnetic, quadrupolar and charge orderings. Further experimental signatures are proposed.

6 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Competing orders and topology in the global phase diagram of pyrochlore iridates
• Topological superconductivity in Kondo-Kitaev model
• Modulated Helical Metals at Magnetic Domain Walls of Pyrochlore Iridium Oxides
• Quantum Criticality Enabled by Intertwined Degrees of Freedom
• Interplay of uniform U(1) quantum spin liquid and magnetic phases in rare earth pyrochlore magnets : a fermionic parton approach
• Anomalous Hall effect and quantum criticality in geometrically frustrated heavy fermion metals