${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ vortices in the ground states of classical Kitaev-Heisenberg models

Eddie Seabrook, Maria Laura Baez, Johannes Reuther

The classical nearest neighbor Kitaev-Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice is known to host ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ spin-vortices forming a crystalline superstructure in the ground st…