The Kekul'e-Kitaev model, an extension of the Kitaev model, exhibits quantum spin liquid properties, which has an exact solution through Kitaev parton construction. In this study, we calculate the dynamical spin structure factor as a linear response and the third-order magnetic susceptibility as a nonlinear response using two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy for the Kekul'e-Kitaev model. Our results reveal that the few-matter fermion excitations approximation provides reliable results for both linear and nonlinear responses. Notably, while the Kekul'e-Kitaev model shows linear and nonlinear responses qualitatively similar to the Kitaev model, it displays distinct behavior under a weak uniform and staggered magnetic field. Specifically, the Kekul'e-Kitaev model does not present a non-Abelian phase under a uniform magnetic field, while such phase appears in the presence of a staggered magnetic field. Interestingly, within the non-Abelian phase, signals originating from two nonadjacent fluxes in the nonlinear response are stronger than signals from other flux excitations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the ground state of the Kekul'e-Kitaev model at isotropic coupling is mapped, through unitary spin rotations, to an excited state of the Kitaev model with a uniform flux configuration.
We investigate the nonlinear response of the Kitaev honeycomb lattice model in a weak magnetic field using the theory of two-dimensional (2D) coherent spectroscopy. We observe that at the isotropic point in the non-Abelian phase of this model, the nonlinear spectrum in the 2D frequency domain consists of sharp signals that originate from the flux excitations and Majorana bound states. Signatures of different flux excitations can be clearly observed in this spectrum, such that one can observe evidences of flux states with 4-adjacent, 2-nonadjacent, and 4-far-separated fluxes, which are not visible in linear response spectroscopy such as neutron scattering experiments. Moreover, in the Abelian phase we perceive that the spectrum in the frequency domain is composed of streak signals. These signals, as in the nonlinear response of the pure Kitaev model, represent a distinct signature of itinerant Majorana fermions. However, deep in the Abelian phase whenever a Kitaev exchange coupling is much stronger than the others, the streak signals are weakened and only single sharp spots are seen in the response, which resembles the dispersionless response of the conventional toric code.
We study the response of a Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) to a local magnetic field perpendicular to the Kitaev honeycomb lattice. The local magnetic field induces a dynamical excitation of a flux pair in the spin liquid and the system can be described by a generally particle-hole asymmetric interacting resonant level model. The dynamical excitation of the flux pair closes the flux gap in the spectrum of the spin correlation function locally for the gapless KSL even from the perturbative response to a weak magnetic field. Beyond the perturbative regime, the p-h asymmetry competes with the magnetic field and results in a rich phase diagram. Moreover, the magnetic field breaks the gauge equivalence of the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Kitaev couplings of the ground state and leads to very different behaviors for the two cases. The antiferromagnetic case experiences a first-order phase transition to the polarized state during magnetization, whereas the ferromagnetic case does not. This study can be generalized to the Kitaev model in a uniform magnetic field and may help understand issues in recent experiments on KSL candidates.
We study the dynamical response functions relevant for electric field induced two-dimensional (2D) coherent nonlinear optical spectroscopy in a Kitaev magnet at finite temperature. We show that these response functions are susceptible to both types of fractional quasiparticles of this quantum spin-liquid, i.e. fermions and flux visons. Focusing on the second order response, we find a strong antidiagonal feature in the 2D frequency plane, related to the galvanoelectric effect of the fractional fermions. Perpendicular to the antidiagonal, the width of this feature is set by quasiparticle relaxation rates beyond the bare Kitaev magnet, thereby providing access to single-particle characteristics within a multi-particle continuum. While the 2D spectrum of the response is set by the fermionic quasiparticles and displays Fermi blocking versus temperature, the emergent bond randomness which arises due to thermally populated visons strongly modifies the fermionic spectrum. Therefore also the presence of gauge excitations is manifest in the 2D nonlinear response as the temperature is increased beyond the flux proliferation crossover.
Motivated by growing evidence for the significance of the third-nearest-neighbor Heisenberg (
J3) interaction in candidate Kitaev materials, we investigate the dynamical properties of the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) under a
J3 perturbation, focusing on its spin dynamical structure factor (DSF) and Raman scattering. Within a self-consistent parton mean-field plus random-phase approximation framework, we find that
J3 induces coherent, paramagnon-like collective modes that coexist with a high-energy Majorana continuum in the spin DSF. The softening of these modes with increasing
∣J3∣ signals a quantum phase transition to magnetic order. Remarkably, magnetic ordering sets in at a common critical
J3 for both ferromagnetic (
K<0) and antiferromagnetic (
K>0) Kitaev models, with the resulting ordered states forming exact dual pairs under a four-sublattice duality transformation that maps
(K,J3)→(−K,J3). An external magnetic field further softens the preexisting paramagnon modes, thereby enhancing magnetic order. Perturbative Raman calculations show that while the Kitaev-like Raman vertex probes only itinerant matter Majorana fermions, the response from the
J3-like vertex features both matter Majoranas and visons. Four-vison excitations produce a sharp peak accompanied by a two-fermion continuum, whereas two-vison excitations yield a continuum closely resembling the single-matter-fermion density of states. These results provide a unified perspective on the dynamical signatures of
J3-perturbed KSL and are helpful for interpreting experimental spectra in candidate Kitaev materials with sizable
J3 interactions.
We study the dynamics of fractionalized excitations in a Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) induced by a local magnetic field perpendicular to the Kitaev honeycomb lattice. The local magnetic field induces a dynamic excitation of a pair of fluxes described by a generally particle-hole asymmetric interacting resonant level model and the dynamics resembles that of a Kondo problem. The p-h asymmetry competes with the magnetic field and results in a rich phase diagram. Moreover, the magnetic field breaks the gauge equivalence of the ferromagnetic (FM) and anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) Kitaev couplings of the ground state and leads to dramatically different behaviors for the two cases. The latter experiences a first order phase transition during magnetization whereas the former does not. By studying the response of the KSL to the magnetic field in different regimes, we obtain the RG flow and phase diagram of the system in the whole space. This study can be generalized to the KSL in a uniform magnetic field and help resolve issues in recent experiments on KSL candidates.
Two-dimensional coherent terahertz spectroscopy (2DCS) emerges as a valuable tool to probe the nature, couplings, and lifetimes of excitations in quantum materials. It thus promises to identify unique signatures of spin liquid states in quantum magnets by directly probing properties of their exotic fractionalized excitations. Here, we calculate the second-order 2DCS of the Kitaev honeycomb model and demonstrate that distinct spin liquid fingerprints appear already in this lowest-order nonlinear response
χyzx(2)(ω1,ω2) when using crossed light polarizations. We further relate the off-diagonal 2DCS peaks to the localized nature of the matter Majorana excitations trapped by
Z2 flux excitations and show that 2DCS thus directly probes the inverse participation ratio of Majorana wavefunctions. By providing experimentally observable features of spin liquid states in the 2D spectrum, our work can guide future 2DCS experiments on Kitaev magnets.