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SU(N) chiral spin liquids and spin-1/2 plaquette phases in 2D Mott insulators

C. Boos

Published Jan 1, 2020• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this thesis, the Hubbard model with hopping amplitude, t, and on-site interaction, U, in the Mott-insulating regime is explored for unconventional magnetic phases at T = 0 K. These phases are captured within effective low-energy descriptions, and are triggered by quantum fluctuations due to finite hopping. We aim for unconventional phases from two mechanisms, an increased symmetry SU(N) with N > 2 compared to the most common SU(2), and highly frustrated interactions. For SU(N)-symmetric fermions in artificial gauge fields, chiral spin liquid phases (CSLs) are investigated. They are determined within effective spin models, which we derive in order six in t/U for the honeycomb lattice for general values of N, and study in detail for the triangular lattice up to order five in t/U for SU(3) and SU(7) by exact diagonalisations and variational Monte Carlo simulations. On the triangular lattice, the third-order effective model is the J -K model with nearest-neighbour coupling, J ∈ R, and ring exchange, K ∈ C. For SU(3) and Im K = 0, the three-sublattice long-range ordered phase is ruled out by a spontaneously time-reversal symmetry breaking π/3-flux CSL through � nite hopping. Further, for Im K = 0, a lattice nematic, a 120◦ long-ranged ordered, and the ferromagnetically ordered phase occur. The CSL is found to be extended to Re K = 0. It is also present in the fourth- and fifth-order model in the most relevant π-flux case, where time-reversal symmetry is spontaneously broken. Together with the estimated metal-insulator transition point at larger hoppings, this CSL is therefore expected to be realised in the SU(3) Hubbard model. The analogous CSL is also predicted for SU(7)-symmetric fermions. Experimental realisations with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices are described. SrCu2(BO3)2 is a highly frustrated quantum magnet. At ambient pressure it is captured by the spin-1/2 Shastry-Sutherland model, which yields the effective strong-coupling description of the associated SU(2) Hubbard model. To describe SrCu2(BO3)2 under higher pressure, we extend the Shastry-Sutherland model by asymmetric coupling strengths, and find that asymmetries of a few percent are sufficient to replace the empty plaquette singlet phase (EPP) of the Shastry-Sutherland model with the filled plaquette singlet phase (FPP) that is found to be identical to a quasi one-dimensional Haldane phase. These results are achieved by series expansions and infinite projected entangled-pair states. The dispersions and dynamic structure factors of both plaquette phases are derived. The EPP naturally hosts one low-lying triplon, whereas the FPP has two. Therefore, the FPP appears to be the likely candidate for SrCu2(BO3)2 under pressure. The excitations of both phases show some agreement with experimental data if the exchange amplitudes change more than expected. Further measurements are suggested. At last, an orthogonal-plaquette model of spins-1/2 is introduced and proven to host two exact valence bond crystals based on plaquette singlets with an extensive degeneracy at the phase transition. This model exhibits an extensive number of conserved quantities, which is used for further investigations of the phase diagram.

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In this thesis we apply recently developed, as well as sophisticated quantum Monte Carlo methods to numerically investigate models of strongly correlated electron systems on honeycomb structures. The latter are of particular interest owing to their unique properties when simulating electrons on them, like the relativistic dispersion, strong quantum fluctuations and their resistance against instabilities. This work covers several projects including the advancement of the weak-coupling continuous time quantum Monte Carlo and its application to zero temperature and phonons, quantum phase transitions of valence bond solids in spin-1/2 Heisenberg systems using projector quantum Monte Carlo in the valence bond basis, and the magnetic field induced transition to a canted antiferromagnet of the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice. The emphasis lies on two projects investigating the phase diagram of the SU(2) and the SU(N)-symmetric Hubbard model on the hexagonal lattice. At sufficiently low temperatures, condensed-matter systems tend to develop order. An exception are quantum spin-liquids, where fluctuations prevent a transition to an ordered state down to the lowest temperatures. Previously elusive in experimentally relevant microscopic two-dimensional models, we show by means of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the SU(2) Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice, that a quantum spin-liquid emerges between the state described by massless Dirac fermions and an antiferromagnetically ordered Mott insulator. This unexpected quantum-disordered state is found to be a short-range resonating valence bond liquid, akin to the one proposed for high temperature superconductors. Inspired by the rich phase diagrams of SU(N) models we study the SU(N)-symmetric Hubbard Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice to investigate the reliability of 1/N corrections to large-N results by means of numerically exact QMC simulations. We study the melting of phases as correlations increase with decreasing N and determine whether the quantum spin liquid found in the SU(2) Hubbard model at intermediate coupling is a specific feature, or also exists in the unconstrained t-J model and higher symmetries.

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Emergence of unconventional phases in quantum spin systems

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In this thesis, we investigate strongly correlated phenomena in quantum spin systems. In the first part of this work, we study geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets (AFMs). Generalizing the SU(2) Heisenberg Hamiltonian to Sp(N) symmetry, we obtain, in the large-N limit, the mean-field phase diagrams for the planar pyrochlore and cubic AFMs. We then use gauge theories to consider fluctuation effects about their respective mean-field configurations. We find, in addition to conventional Neel states, a plethora of novel magnetically disordered phases: two kinds of spin liquids, Z2 in 2+1D and U(1)in 3+1D, and several valence bond solids such as two and three-dimensional plaquette and columnar singlet states. We use the same approach to study the diamond lattice AFM which possesses extended classical ground state degeneracy. We demonstrate that quantum and entropic fluctuations lift this degeneracy in different ways. In the second part of the thesis, we study ultracold spinor atoms confined in optical lattices. We first demonstrate the feasibility of experimental realization of rotor models using ultracold spin-one Bose atoms in a spin-dependent and disordered optical lattice. We show that the ground state of such disordered rotor models with quadrupolar interactions can exhibit biaxial nematic ordering in the disorder-averaged sense, and suggest an imaging experiment to detect the biaxial nematicity in such systems. Finally, using variational wavefunction methods, we study the Mott phases and superfluid-insulator transition of spin-three bosons in an optical lattice with an anisotropic two dimensional optical trap. We chart out the phase diagrams for Mott states with n = 1 and n = 2 atoms per lattice site. We show that the long-range dipolar interaction stabilizes a state characterized by antiferromagnetic chains made of ferromagnetically aligned spins. We also obtain the mean-field phase boundary for the superfluid-insulator transition, and show that inside the superfluid phase and near the superfluid-insulator phase boundary, the system undergoes a first order antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic spin ordering transition.

•Jan 1, 2008•0 citations

Proximate Quantum Spin Liquids in Frustrated Magnets

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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.

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SU(2) gauge theory of the Hubbard model and application to the honeycomb lattice

Michael Hermele

Motivated by recent experiments on the triangular lattice Mott-Hubbard system $\ensuremath{\kappa}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{(\mathrm{BEDT}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{TTF})}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{N})}_{3}$, we develop a general formalism to investigate quantum spin liquid insulators adjacent to the Mott transition in Hubbard models. This formalism, dubbed the SU(2) slave-rotor formulation, is an extension of the SU(2) gauge theory of the Heisenberg model to the case of the Hubbard model. Furthermore, we propose the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model (at half filling) as a candidate for a spin liquid ground state near the Mott transition; this is an appealing possibility, as this model can be studied via quantum Monte Carlo simulation without a sign problem. The pseudospin symmetry of Hubbard models on bipartite lattices turns out to play a crucial role in our analysis, and we develop our formalism primarily for the case of a bipartite lattice. We also sketch its development for a general Hubbard model. We develop a mean-field theory to describe spin liquids and some competing states, and apply it to the honeycomb lattice. On the insulating side of the Mott transition, we find an SU(2) algebraic spin liquid (ASL), described by gapless $S=1∕2$ Dirac fermions (spinons) coupled to a fluctuating SU(2) gauge field. This result contrasts with that obtained via a U(1) slave-rotor approach, which instead found a U(1) ASL. That formulation does not respect the pseudospin symmetry, and is therefore not correct on the honeycomb lattice. We construct a low-energy effective theory describing the ASL phase, the conducting semimetal phase and the Mott transition between them. This physics can be detected in numerical simulations via the simultaneous presence of substantial antiferromagnetic and valence-bond solid correlations. In the SU(2) ASL, these observables have slowly decaying fluctuations in space and time, described by power laws with the same critical exponent. We recover the results of the U(1) slave-rotor formulation in the presence of a strong breaking of pseudospin symmetry. Our analysis suggests that both a third-neighbor electron hopping, and/or pseudospin-breaking terms such as a nearest-neighbor density interaction, may help to stabilize a spin liquid phase.

arXiv:cond-mat/0701134•Physical Review B•Jul 31, 2007•85 citations

Chiral Spin Liquids in Triangular-Lattice SU(N) Fermionic Mott Insulators with Artificial Gauge Fields

Pierre Nataf, Miklós Lajkó, Alexander Wietek +3 more

We show that, in the presence of a π/2 artificial gauge field per plaquette, Mott insulating phases of ultracold fermions with SU(N) symmetry and one particle per site generically possess an extended chiral phase with intrinsic topological order characterized by an approximate ground space of N low-lying singlets for periodic boundary conditions, and by chiral edge states described by the SU(N)_{1} Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten conformal field theory for open boundary conditions. This has been achieved by extensive exact diagonalizations for N between 3 and 9, and by a parton construction based on a set of N Gutzwiller projected fermionic wave functions with flux π/N per triangular plaquette. Experimental implications are briefly discussed.

arXiv:1601.00958•Physical Review Letters•Oct 11, 2016•52 citations
In this thesis, the Hubbard model with hopping amplitude, t, and on-site interaction, U, in the Mott-insulating regime is explored for unconventional magnetic phases at T = 0 K. These phases are captured within effective low-energy descriptions, and are triggered by quantum fluctuations due to finite hopping. We aim for unconventional phases from two mechanisms, an increased symmetry SU(N) with N > 2 compared to the most common SU(2), and highly frustrated interactions. For SU(N)-symmetric fermions in artificial gauge fields, chiral spin liquid phases (CSLs) are investigated. They are determined within effective spin models, which we derive in order six in t/U for the honeycomb lattice for general values of N, and study in detail for the triangular lattice up to order five in t/U for SU(3) and SU(7) by exact diagonalisations and variational Monte Carlo simulations. On the triangular lattice, the third-order effective model is the J -K model with nearest-neighbour coupling, J ∈ R, and ring exchange, K ∈ C. For SU(3) and Im K = 0, the three-sublattice long-range ordered phase is ruled out by a spontaneously time-reversal symmetry breaking π/3-flux CSL through � nite hopping. Further, for Im K = 0, a lattice nematic, a 120◦ long-ranged ordered, and the ferromagnetically ordered phase occur. The CSL is found to be extended to Re K = 0. It is also present in the fourth- and fifth-order model in the most relevant π-flux case, where time-reversal symmetry is spontaneously broken. Together with the estimated metal-insulator transition point at larger hoppings, this CSL is therefore expected to be realised in the SU(3) Hubbard model. The analogous CSL is also predicted for SU(7)-symmetric fermions. Experimental realisations with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices are described. SrCu2(BO3)2 is a highly frustrated quantum magnet. At ambient pressure it is captured by the spin-1/2 Shastry-Sutherland model, which yields the effective strong-coupling description of the associated SU(2) Hubbard model. To describe SrCu2(BO3)2 under higher pressure, we extend the Shastry-Sutherland model by asymmetric coupling strengths, and find that asymmetries of a few percent are sufficient to replace the empty plaquette singlet phase (EPP) of the Shastry-Sutherland model with the filled plaquette singlet phase (FPP) that is found to be identical to a quasi one-dimensional Haldane phase. These results are achieved by series expansions and infinite projected entangled-pair states. The dispersions and dynamic structure factors of both plaquette phases are derived. The EPP naturally hosts one low-lying triplon, whereas the FPP has two. Therefore, the FPP appears to be the likely candidate for SrCu2(BO3)2 under pressure. The excitations of both phases show some agreement with experimental data if the exchange amplitudes change more than expected. Further measurements are suggested. At last, an orthogonal-plaquette model of spins-1/2 is introduced and proven to host two exact valence bond crystals based on plaquette singlets with an extensive degeneracy at the phase transition. This model exhibits an extensive number of conserved quantities, which is used for further investigations of the phase diagram.
In this thesis we apply recently developed, as well as sophisticated quantum Monte Carlo methods to numerically investigate models of strongly correlated electron systems on honeycomb structures. The latter are of particular interest owing to their unique properties when simulating electrons on them, like the relativistic dispersion, strong quantum fluctuations and their resistance against instabilities. This work covers several projects including the advancement of the weak-coupling continuous time quantum Monte Carlo and its application to zero temperature and phonons, quantum phase transitions of valence bond solids in spin-1/2 Heisenberg systems using projector quantum Monte Carlo in the valence bond basis, and the magnetic field induced transition to a canted antiferromagnet of the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice. The emphasis lies on two projects investigating the phase diagram of the SU(2) and the SU(N)-symmetric Hubbard model on the hexagonal lattice. At sufficiently low temperatures, condensed-matter systems tend to develop order. An exception are quantum spin-liquids, where fluctuations prevent a transition to an ordered state down to the lowest temperatures. Previously elusive in experimentally relevant microscopic two-dimensional models, we show by means of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the SU(2) Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice, that a quantum spin-liquid emerges between the state described by massless Dirac fermions and an antiferromagnetically ordered Mott insulator. This unexpected quantum-disordered state is found to be a short-range resonating valence bond liquid, akin to the one proposed for high temperature superconductors. Inspired by the rich phase diagrams of SU(N) models we study the SU(N)-symmetric Hubbard Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice to investigate the reliability of 1/N corrections to large-N results by means of numerically exact QMC simulations. We study the melting of phases as correlations increase with decreasing N and determine whether the quantum spin liquid found in the SU(2) Hubbard model at intermediate coupling is a specific feature, or also exists in the unconstrained t-J model and higher symmetries.
In this thesis we apply recently developed, as well as sophisticated quantum Monte Carlo methods to numerically investigate models of strongly correlated electron systems on honeycomb structures. The latter are of particular interest owing to their unique properties when simulating electrons on them, like the relativistic dispersion, strong quantum fluctuations and their resistance against instabilities. This work covers several projects including the advancement of the weak-coupling continuous time quantum Monte Carlo and its application to zero temperature and phonons, quantum phase transitions of valence bond solids in spin-1/2 Heisenberg systems using projector quantum Monte Carlo in the valence bond basis, and the magnetic field induced transition to a canted antiferromagnet of the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice. The emphasis lies on two projects investigating the phase diagram of the SU(2) and the SU(N)-symmetric Hubbard model on the hexagonal lattice. At sufficiently low temperatures, condensed-matter systems tend to develop order. An exception are quantum spin-liquids, where fluctuations prevent a transition to an ordered state down to the lowest temperatures. Previously elusive in experimentally relevant microscopic two-dimensional models, we show by means of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the SU(2) Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice, that a quantum spin-liquid emerges between the state described by massless Dirac fermions and an antiferromagnetically ordered Mott insulator. This unexpected quantum-disordered state is found to be a short-range resonating valence bond liquid, akin to the one proposed for high temperature superconductors. Inspired by the rich phase diagrams of SU(N) models we study the SU(N)-symmetric Hubbard Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice to investigate the reliability of 1/N corrections to large-N results by means of numerically exact QMC simulations. We study the melting of phases as correlations increase with decreasing N and determine whether the quantum spin liquid found in the SU(2) Hubbard model at intermediate coupling is a specific feature, or also exists in the unconstrained t-J model and higher symmetries.
In this thesis, we investigate strongly correlated phenomena in quantum spin systems. In the first part of this work, we study geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets (AFMs). Generalizing the SU(2) Heisenberg Hamiltonian to Sp(N) symmetry, we obtain, in the large-N limit, the mean-field phase diagrams for the planar pyrochlore and cubic AFMs. We then use gauge theories to consider fluctuation effects about their respective mean-field configurations. We find, in addition to conventional Neel states, a plethora of novel magnetically disordered phases: two kinds of spin liquids, Z2 in 2+1D and U(1)in 3+1D, and several valence bond solids such as two and three-dimensional plaquette and columnar singlet states. We use the same approach to study the diamond lattice AFM which possesses extended classical ground state degeneracy. We demonstrate that quantum and entropic fluctuations lift this degeneracy in different ways. In the second part of the thesis, we study ultracold spinor atoms confined in optical lattices. We first demonstrate the feasibility of experimental realization of rotor models using ultracold spin-one Bose atoms in a spin-dependent and disordered optical lattice. We show that the ground state of such disordered rotor models with quadrupolar interactions can exhibit biaxial nematic ordering in the disorder-averaged sense, and suggest an imaging experiment to detect the biaxial nematicity in such systems. Finally, using variational wavefunction methods, we study the Mott phases and superfluid-insulator transition of spin-three bosons in an optical lattice with an anisotropic two dimensional optical trap. We chart out the phase diagrams for Mott states with n = 1 and n = 2 atoms per lattice site. We show that the long-range dipolar interaction stabilizes a state characterized by antiferromagnetic chains made of ferromagnetically aligned spins. We also obtain the mean-field phase boundary for the superfluid-insulator transition, and show that inside the superfluid phase and near the superfluid-insulator phase boundary, the system undergoes a first order antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic spin ordering transition.
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.
Motivated by recent experiments on the triangular lattice Mott-Hubbard system $\ensuremath{\kappa}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{(\mathrm{BEDT}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{TTF})}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{N})}_{3}$, we develop a general formalism to investigate quantum spin liquid insulators adjacent to the Mott transition in Hubbard models. This formalism, dubbed the SU(2) slave-rotor formulation, is an extension of the SU(2) gauge theory of the Heisenberg model to the case of the Hubbard model. Furthermore, we propose the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model (at half filling) as a candidate for a spin liquid ground state near the Mott transition; this is an appealing possibility, as this model can be studied via quantum Monte Carlo simulation without a sign problem. The pseudospin symmetry of Hubbard models on bipartite lattices turns out to play a crucial role in our analysis, and we develop our formalism primarily for the case of a bipartite lattice. We also sketch its development for a general Hubbard model. We develop a mean-field theory to describe spin liquids and some competing states, and apply it to the honeycomb lattice. On the insulating side of the Mott transition, we find an SU(2) algebraic spin liquid (ASL), described by gapless S=1∕2S=1∕2S=1∕2 Dirac fermions (spinons) coupled to a fluctuating SU(2) gauge field. This result contrasts with that obtained via a U(1) slave-rotor approach, which instead found a U(1) ASL. That formulation does not respect the pseudospin symmetry, and is therefore not correct on the honeycomb lattice. We construct a low-energy effective theory describing the ASL phase, the conducting semimetal phase and the Mott transition between them. This physics can be detected in numerical simulations via the simultaneous presence of substantial antiferromagnetic and valence-bond solid correlations. In the SU(2) ASL, these observables have slowly decaying fluctuations in space and time, described by power laws with the same critical exponent. We recover the results of the U(1) slave-rotor formulation in the presence of a strong breaking of pseudospin symmetry. Our analysis suggests that both a third-neighbor electron hopping, and/or pseudospin-breaking terms such as a nearest-neighbor density interaction, may help to stabilize a spin liquid phase.
We show that, in the presence of a π/2 artificial gauge field per plaquette, Mott insulating phases of ultracold fermions with SU(N) symmetry and one particle per site generically possess an extended chiral phase with intrinsic topological order characterized by an approximate ground space of N low-lying singlets for periodic boundary conditions, and by chiral edge states described by the SU(N)_{1} Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten conformal field theory for open boundary conditions. This has been achieved by extensive exact diagonalizations for N between 3 and 9, and by a parton construction based on a set of N Gutzwiller projected fermionic wave functions with flux π/N per triangular plaquette. Experimental implications are briefly discussed.