Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:0811.1220 · Physical Review B

Global phase diagrams of frustrated quantum antiferromagnets in two dimensions: Doubled Chern-Simons theory

Cenke Xu, Subir Sachdev A

Published Feb 6, 2009• 105 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present a general approach to understanding the quantum phases and phase transitions of quantum antiferromagnets in two spatial dimensions. We begin with the simplest spin-liquid state, the ${Z}_{2}$ spin liquid, whose elementary excitations are spinons and visons, carrying ${Z}_{2}$ electric and magnetic charges, respectively. Their dynamics is expressed in terms of a doubled U(1) Chern-Simons theory, which correctly captures the ``topological'' order of the ${Z}_{2}$ spin-liquid state. We show that the same theory also yields a description of the variety of ordered phases obtained when one or more of the elementary excitations condense. Field theories for the transitions and multicritical points between these phases are obtained. We survey experimental results on antiferromagnets on the anisotropic triangular lattice, and make connections between their phase diagrams and our results.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.79.064405

Related papers

Chern-Simons superconductors and their instabilities

Rui Wang, Baigeng Wang, Tigran Sedrakyan

Two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets host rich physics, including long-range ordering, high-${T}_{c}$ superconductivity, quantum spin-liquid behavior, topological ordering, a variety of other exotic phases, and quantum criticalities. Frustrating perturbations in antiferromagnets may give rise to strong quantum fluctuations, challenging the theoretical understanding of the many-body ground state. Here we develop a method to describe the quantum antiferromagnets using fermionic degrees of freedom. The method is based on a formally exact mapping between spin-exchange models and theories describing fermionic matter with the emergent $\text{U}(1)$ Chern-Simons gauge field. For the planar N\'eel state, this mapping self-consistently generates the Chern-Simons superconductor mean-field ground state of introduced spinless fermions. We systematically compare the Chern-Simons superconductor state with the planar N\'eel state at the level of collective modes as well as order parameters. We reveal qualitative and quantitative correspondences between these two states. We demonstrate that such a construction using the fractionalized excitations and Chern-Simons gauge field can not only describe the N\'eel order, but can also be applied to study quantum spin liquids. Furthermore, we show that the confinement-deconfinement transitions from the N\'eel order to quantum spin liquids are signaled and characterized by the instabilities of Chern-Simons superconductors, driven by strong frustration. The results suggest observing and classifying the descendants of antiferromagnets, including other ordered states and unconventional superconductors, as well as emergent quantum spin liquids.

arXiv:2010.10067•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Feb 4, 2022•14 citations

Emergent topological orders and phase transitions in lattice Chern-Simons theory of quantum magnets

Rui Wang, Z. Y. Xie, Baigeng Wang +1 more

Topological phase transitions involving intrinsic topological orders are usually characterized by qualitative changes of ground state quantum entanglement, which cannot be described by conventional mean-field theories with local order parameters. Here, we apply the lattice Chern-Simons theory to study frustrated quantum magnets and show that the conventional concepts, such as the order parameter and symmetry breaking, can still play a crucial role in certain topological phase transitions. The lattice Chern-Simons representation establishes a nonlocal mapping from quantum spin models to interacting spinless Dirac fermions. We show that breaking certain emergent symmetries of the fermionic theory could provide a unified approach to describing both magnetic and topological orders, as well as the topological phase transitions between them. We apply this method to the perturbed spin-1/2 ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ XY model on the honeycomb lattice and predict a nonuniform chiral spin liquid ground state in the strong frustration region. This is further verified by our high-precision tensor network calculations. These results suggest that the lattice Chern-Simons theory can simplify the complicated topological phase transitions to effective mean-field theories in terms of fermionic degrees of freedom, which lead to different understandings that help to understand the frustrated quantum magnets.

Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 29, 2022•20 citations

Criticality in quantum triangular antiferromagnets via fermionized vortices

Jason Alicea, Olexei I. Motrunich, Michael Hermele +1 more

We reexamine two-dimensional frustrated quantum magnetism with the aim of exploring new critical points and critical phases. We study easy-plane triangular antiferromagnets using a dual vortex approach, fermionizing the vortices with a Chern-Simons field. Herein we develop this technique for integer-spin systems which generically exhibit a simple paramagnetic phase as well as magnetically ordered phases with coplanar and collinear spin order. Within the fermionized-vortex approach, we derive a low-energy effective theory containing Dirac fermions with two flavors minimally coupled to a U(1) and a Chern-Simons gauge field. At criticality we argue that the Chern-Simons gauge field can be subsumed into the U(1) gauge field, and up to irrelevant interactions one arrives at quantum electrodynamics in $2+1$ dimensions (QED3). Moreover, we conjecture that critical QED3 with full SU(2) flavor symmetry describes the O(4) multicritical point of the spin model where the paramagnet and two magnetically ordered phases merge. The remarkable implication is that QED3 with flavor SU(2) symmetry is dual to ordinary critical ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}^{4}$ field theory with O(4) symmetry. This leads to a number of unexpected, verifiable predictions for QED3. A connection of our fermionized-vortex approach with the dipole interpretation of the $\ensuremath{\nu}=1∕2$ fractional quantum Hall state is also demonstrated. The approach introduced in this paper will be applied to spin-$1∕2$ systems in a forthcoming publication.

arXiv:cond-mat/0503399•Physical Review B•Aug 4, 2005•58 citations

Proximate Quantum Spin Liquids in Frustrated Magnets

Anjishnu Bose

Frustrated magnetism provides a rich platform for realizing exotic quantum phases in condensed matter systems. Among these, quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are a particularly intriguing class of states that exhibit no magnetic ordering and preserve all symmetries down to zero temperature. Just as conventional magnets can be thought of as spin crystals,QSLs represent their liquid analogs. This thesis explores two broad types of QSLs in two-dimensional magnets, with a focus on their dynamic properties and the nature of transitions from conventional magnetic states into QSL phases. QSLs are topological phases that host fractionalized excitations known as spinons. In these states, mobile spinons are coupled to an emergent gauge field, forming a highly entangled phase of matter. The first part of this thesis focuses on Dirac spin liquids (DSLs), a class of QSLs where spinons exhibit a gapless Dirac dispersion. To study the dynamicsof these spin liquids beyond leading-order mean-field theory, we develop a novel large-N fermionic limit of gapless spinons. In this limit, all gauge excitations are suppressed, and the leading-order corrections instead arise from order parameter fluctuations, which may condense and drive transitions into symmetry-broken phases from the parent DSL. Incorporating random phase approximation (RPA) corrections to the spin susceptibility, we find that sharp, spin-wave–like modes are recovered in the excitation spectrum. This methodology successfully captures characteristic features of the dynamics near phase transitions and in weakly symmetry-broken phases proximate to a DSL. We apply this approach to microscopic models, including the J1-J2 XXZ model on the triangular lattice and the J1-J3 XXZ model on the honeycomb lattice. These models closely represent a wide range of frustrated materials, such as triangular and honeycomb cobaltates and triangular ytterbium compounds. Our theoretical predictions show excellent agreement with experimentally measured inelastic neutron scattering spectra from these materials. Gapless spinons can also sometimes become gapped through chiral symmetry breaking, leading to the formation of a chiral spin liquid (CSL). The CSL is an archetypal bosonic realization of a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state at half-filling, and has been proposed as a time-reversal–breaking ground state in a variety of frustrated spin models. The second part of this thesis addresses the intriguing possibility of realizing a CSL through the "melting" of a chiral spin crystal—a conventional magnet with non-coplanar ordering. Such a transition offers a physically appealing analogue to the melting of a Wigner crystal into a fermionic FQH liquid. Focusing on the kagome lattice, where chiral interactions are knownto stabilize a CSL ground state, we study the effects of additional long-range Heisenberg interactions and demonstrate a phase transition into a non-coplanar octahedral magnetic order. To describe the universal class of transition between a CSL and a non-coplanar anti-ferromagnetic order, we then develop a novel Chern-Simons–matter field theory framework, constrained by symmetry principles and symmetry fractionalization patterns. This thesis thus provides new insights into the dynamical signatures and phase transitions of quantum spin liquids, offering a bridge between theoretical models and experimental observations in frustrated magnetic systems.

•Oct 1, 2025•0 citations

Helical spin liquid in a triangular XXZ magnet from Chern-Simons theory

Tigran Sedrakyan, Roderich Moessner, Alex Kamenev

We propose a finite-temperature phase diagram for the two-dimensional spin-$1/2$ ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ XXZ antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice. Our analysis, based on a composite fermion representation, yields several phases. This includes a zero-temperature helical spin liquid with $N=6$ anisotropic Dirac cones, and with nonzero vector chirality implying a broken ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ symmetry. It is terminated at $T=0$ by a continuous quantum phase transition to a ${120}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ ordered state around ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\approx}0.089$ in the XX limit; these phases share a double degeneracy, which persists to finite $T$ above the helical spin liquid. By contrast, at ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.116$, the transition into a stripe phase appears as first order. We further discuss experimental and numerical consequences of the helical order and the anisotropic nature of the Dirac dispersion.

arXiv:1911.02932•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Jul 20, 2020•12 citations

Chern-Simons fermionization approach to two-dimensional quantum magnets: Implications for antiferromagnetic magnons and unconventional quantum phase transitions

Rui Wang, Baigeng Wang, Tigran Sedrakyan

We develop an approach to describe antiferromagnetic magnons on a bipartite lattice supporting the N\'eel state using fractionalized degrees of freedom typically inherent to quantum spin liquids. In particular, we consider a long-range magnetically ordered state of interacting two-dimensional quantum spin-$1/2$ XY models using the Chern-Simons (CS) fermion representation of interacting spins. The interaction leads to Cooper instability and pairing of CS fermions, and to CS superconductivity which spontaneously violates the continuous $\mathrm{U}(1)$ symmetry generating a linearly dispersing gapless Nambu-Goldstone mode due to phase fluctuations. We evaluate this mode and show that it is in high-precision agreement with magnons of the corresponding N\'eel antiferromagnet irrespective to the lattice symmetry. Using the fermion formulation of the system with frustration, we show that the competing interactions emerge in the form of long-range interaction vertices mediated by the CS gauge field, which are responsible for restoring the continuous symmetry at sufficiently strong frustration. We identify these new interaction vertices and discuss their implications for unconventional phase transitions. We also apply the proposed theory to a model of anyons that can be tuned continuously from fermions to bosons, and discuss the results.

arXiv:1709.00060•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Aug 2, 2018•15 citations
We present a general approach to understanding the quantum phases and phase transitions of quantum antiferromagnets in two spatial dimensions. We begin with the simplest spin-liquid state, the Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ spin liquid, whose elementary excitations are spinons and visons, carrying Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ electric and magnetic charges, respectively. Their dynamics is expressed in terms of a doubled U(1) Chern-Simons theory, which correctly captures the ``topological'' order of the Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ spin-liquid state. We show that the same theory also yields a description of the variety of ordered phases obtained when one or more of the elementary excitations condense. Field theories for the transitions and multicritical points between these phases are obtained. We survey experimental results on antiferromagnets on the anisotropic triangular lattice, and make connections between their phase diagrams and our results.
Two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets host rich physics, including long-range ordering, high-Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ superconductivity, quantum spin-liquid behavior, topological ordering, a variety of other exotic phases, and quantum criticalities. Frustrating perturbations in antiferromagnets may give rise to strong quantum fluctuations, challenging the theoretical understanding of the many-body ground state. Here we develop a method to describe the quantum antiferromagnets using fermionic degrees of freedom. The method is based on a formally exact mapping between spin-exchange models and theories describing fermionic matter with the emergent U(1)\text{U}(1)U(1) Chern-Simons gauge field. For the planar N\'eel state, this mapping self-consistently generates the Chern-Simons superconductor mean-field ground state of introduced spinless fermions. We systematically compare the Chern-Simons superconductor state with the planar N\'eel state at the level of collective modes as well as order parameters. We reveal qualitative and quantitative correspondences between these two states. We demonstrate that such a construction using the fractionalized excitations and Chern-Simons gauge field can not only describe the N\'eel order, but can also be applied to study quantum spin liquids. Furthermore, we show that the confinement-deconfinement transitions from the N\'eel order to quantum spin liquids are signaled and characterized by the instabilities of Chern-Simons superconductors, driven by strong frustration. The results suggest observing and classifying the descendants of antiferromagnets, including other ordered states and unconventional superconductors, as well as emergent quantum spin liquids.
Topological phase transitions involving intrinsic topological orders are usually characterized by qualitative changes of ground state quantum entanglement, which cannot be described by conventional mean-field theories with local order parameters. Here, we apply the lattice Chern-Simons theory to study frustrated quantum magnets and show that the conventional concepts, such as the order parameter and symmetry breaking, can still play a crucial role in certain topological phase transitions. The lattice Chern-Simons representation establishes a nonlocal mapping from quantum spin models to interacting spinless Dirac fermions. We show that breaking certain emergent symmetries of the fermionic theory could provide a unified approach to describing both magnetic and topological orders, as well as the topological phase transitions between them. We apply this method to the perturbed spin-1/2 ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ XY model on the honeycomb lattice and predict a nonuniform chiral spin liquid ground state in the strong frustration region. This is further verified by our high-precision tensor network calculations. These results suggest that the lattice Chern-Simons theory can simplify the complicated topological phase transitions to effective mean-field theories in terms of fermionic degrees of freedom, which lead to different understandings that help to understand the frustrated quantum magnets.
We reexamine two-dimensional frustrated quantum magnetism with the aim of exploring new critical points and critical phases. We study easy-plane triangular antiferromagnets using a dual vortex approach, fermionizing the vortices with a Chern-Simons field. Herein we develop this technique for integer-spin systems which generically exhibit a simple paramagnetic phase as well as magnetically ordered phases with coplanar and collinear spin order. Within the fermionized-vortex approach, we derive a low-energy effective theory containing Dirac fermions with two flavors minimally coupled to a U(1) and a Chern-Simons gauge field. At criticality we argue that the Chern-Simons gauge field can be subsumed into the U(1) gauge field, and up to irrelevant interactions one arrives at quantum electrodynamics in 2+12+12+1 dimensions (QED3). Moreover, we conjecture that critical QED3 with full SU(2) flavor symmetry describes the O(4) multicritical point of the spin model where the paramagnet and two magnetically ordered phases merge. The remarkable implication is that QED3 with flavor SU(2) symmetry is dual to ordinary critical ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}^{4}$ field theory with O(4) symmetry. This leads to a number of unexpected, verifiable predictions for QED3. A connection of our fermionized-vortex approach with the dipole interpretation of the $\ensuremath{\nu}=1∕2$ fractional quantum Hall state is also demonstrated. The approach introduced in this paper will be applied to spin-1∕21∕21∕2 systems in a forthcoming publication.
Frustrated magnetism provides a rich platform for realizing exotic quantum phases in condensed matter systems. Among these, quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are a particularly intriguing class of states that exhibit no magnetic ordering and preserve all symmetries down to zero temperature. Just as conventional magnets can be thought of as spin crystals,QSLs represent their liquid analogs. This thesis explores two broad types of QSLs in two-dimensional magnets, with a focus on their dynamic properties and the nature of transitions from conventional magnetic states into QSL phases. QSLs are topological phases that host fractionalized excitations known as spinons. In these states, mobile spinons are coupled to an emergent gauge field, forming a highly entangled phase of matter. The first part of this thesis focuses on Dirac spin liquids (DSLs), a class of QSLs where spinons exhibit a gapless Dirac dispersion. To study the dynamicsof these spin liquids beyond leading-order mean-field theory, we develop a novel large-N fermionic limit of gapless spinons. In this limit, all gauge excitations are suppressed, and the leading-order corrections instead arise from order parameter fluctuations, which may condense and drive transitions into symmetry-broken phases from the parent DSL. Incorporating random phase approximation (RPA) corrections to the spin susceptibility, we find that sharp, spin-wave–like modes are recovered in the excitation spectrum. This methodology successfully captures characteristic features of the dynamics near phase transitions and in weakly symmetry-broken phases proximate to a DSL. We apply this approach to microscopic models, including the J1-J2 XXZ model on the triangular lattice and the J1-J3 XXZ model on the honeycomb lattice. These models closely represent a wide range of frustrated materials, such as triangular and honeycomb cobaltates and triangular ytterbium compounds. Our theoretical predictions show excellent agreement with experimentally measured inelastic neutron scattering spectra from these materials. Gapless spinons can also sometimes become gapped through chiral symmetry breaking, leading to the formation of a chiral spin liquid (CSL). The CSL is an archetypal bosonic realization of a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state at half-filling, and has been proposed as a time-reversal–breaking ground state in a variety of frustrated spin models. The second part of this thesis addresses the intriguing possibility of realizing a CSL through the "melting" of a chiral spin crystal—a conventional magnet with non-coplanar ordering. Such a transition offers a physically appealing analogue to the melting of a Wigner crystal into a fermionic FQH liquid. Focusing on the kagome lattice, where chiral interactions are knownto stabilize a CSL ground state, we study the effects of additional long-range Heisenberg interactions and demonstrate a phase transition into a non-coplanar octahedral magnetic order. To describe the universal class of transition between a CSL and a non-coplanar anti-ferromagnetic order, we then develop a novel Chern-Simons–matter field theory framework, constrained by symmetry principles and symmetry fractionalization patterns. This thesis thus provides new insights into the dynamical signatures and phase transitions of quantum spin liquids, offering a bridge between theoretical models and experimental observations in frustrated magnetic systems.
We propose a finite-temperature phase diagram for the two-dimensional spin-1/21/21/2 ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ XXZ antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice. Our analysis, based on a composite fermion representation, yields several phases. This includes a zero-temperature helical spin liquid with N=6N=6N=6 anisotropic Dirac cones, and with nonzero vector chirality implying a broken Z2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​ symmetry. It is terminated at T=0T=0T=0 by a continuous quantum phase transition to a ${120}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ ordered state around ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\approx}0.089$ in the XX limit; these phases share a double degeneracy, which persists to finite TTT above the helical spin liquid. By contrast, at ${J}_{2}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.116$, the transition into a stripe phase appears as first order. We further discuss experimental and numerical consequences of the helical order and the anisotropic nature of the Dirac dispersion.
We develop an approach to describe antiferromagnetic magnons on a bipartite lattice supporting the N\'eel state using fractionalized degrees of freedom typically inherent to quantum spin liquids. In particular, we consider a long-range magnetically ordered state of interacting two-dimensional quantum spin-1/21/21/2 XY models using the Chern-Simons (CS) fermion representation of interacting spins. The interaction leads to Cooper instability and pairing of CS fermions, and to CS superconductivity which spontaneously violates the continuous U(1)\mathrm{U}(1)U(1) symmetry generating a linearly dispersing gapless Nambu-Goldstone mode due to phase fluctuations. We evaluate this mode and show that it is in high-precision agreement with magnons of the corresponding N\'eel antiferromagnet irrespective to the lattice symmetry. Using the fermion formulation of the system with frustration, we show that the competing interactions emerge in the form of long-range interaction vertices mediated by the CS gauge field, which are responsible for restoring the continuous symmetry at sufficiently strong frustration. We identify these new interaction vertices and discuss their implications for unconventional phase transitions. We also apply the proposed theory to a model of anyons that can be tuned continuously from fermions to bosons, and discuss the results.