Weyl spin liquids.
The fractionalization of quantum numbers in interacting quantum many-body systems is a central motif in condensed-matter physics with prominent examples including the fractionalization of the electron in quantum Hall liquids or the emergence of magnetic monopoles in spin-ice materials. Here, we discuss the fractionalization of magnetic moments in three-dimensional Kitaev models into Majorana fermions (and a Z_{2} gauge field) and their emergent collective behavior. We analytically demonstrate that the Majorana fermions form a Weyl superconductor for the Kitaev model on the recently synthesized hyperhoneycomb structure of β-Li_{2}IrO_{3} when applying a magnetic field. We characterize the topologically protected bulk and surface features of this state, which we dub a Weyl spin liquid, including thermodynamic and transport signatures.
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
M
M
Hermanns
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
K
K
O'Brien
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
S
S
Trebst