Unveiling the S=3/2 Kitaev Honeycomb Spin Liquids

Abstract

The S=3/2 Kitaev honeycomb model (KHM) is a quantum spin liquid (QSL) state coupled to a static Z${}_2$ gauge field. Employing an SO(6) Majorana representation of spin 3/2's, we find an exact representation of the conserved plaquette fluxes in terms of static Z${}_2$ gauge fields akin to the S=1/2 KHM which enables us to treat the remaining interacting matter fermion sector in a parton mean-field theory. We uncover a ground-state phase diagram consisting of gapped and gapless QSLs. Our parton description is in quantitative agreement with numerical simulations, and is furthermore corroborated by the addition of a $[001]$ single ion anisotropy (SIA) which continuously connects the gapless Dirac QSL of our model with that of the S=1/2 KHM. In the presence of a weak $[111]$ SIA, we discuss an emergent chiral QSL within a perturbation theory.

5 pages, 4 figures in the main text