Coherent hole propagation in an exactly solvable gapless spin liquid

Abstract

We examine the dynamics of a single hole in the gapless phase of the Kitaev honeycomb model, focusing on the slow-hole regime where the bare hopping amplitude $t$ is much less than the Kitaev exchange energy $J$. In this regime, the hole does not generate gapped flux excitations and is dressed only by the gapless fermion excitations. Investigating the single-hole spectral function, we find that the hole propagates coherently with a quasiparticle weight that is finite but approaches zero as $t/J\to 0$. This conclusion follows from two approximate treatments, which capture the same physics in complementary ways. Both treatments use the stationary limit as an exactly solvable starting point to study the spectral function approximately (i) by employing a variational approach in terms of a trial state that interpolates between the limits of a stationary hole and an infinitely fast hole and (ii) by considering a special point in the gapless phase that corresponds to a simplified one-dimensional problem.

arXiv comment12 pages, 4 figures, published version with one additional figure and infinitesimal changes in text

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• Majorana Spin Liquids, Topology and Superconductivity in Ladders
• Polaron spectra and edge singularities for correlated flat bands
• Single-hole spectra of Kitaev spin liquids: from dynamical Nagaoka ferromagnetism to spin-hole fractionalization
• Dynamics of a single hole in the Heisenberg-Kitaev model: a self-consistent Born approximation study
• Nematic phase in a two-dimensional Hubbard model at weak coupling and finite temperature
• Pairing tendencies in the doped Kitaev-Heisenberg model