Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays
Topological magnetic insulators host chiral gapless edge modes. In the presence of strong interaction effects, the spin of these modes may fractionalize. Studying a two-dimensional array of coupled insulating spin-1/2 chains, we show how spatially modulated magnetic fields and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043200 |
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| _version_ | 1846157070149091328 |
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| author | Even Thingstad Pierre Fromholz Flavio Ronetti Daniel Loss Jelena Klinovaja |
| author_facet | Even Thingstad Pierre Fromholz Flavio Ronetti Daniel Loss Jelena Klinovaja |
| author_sort | Even Thingstad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Topological magnetic insulators host chiral gapless edge modes. In the presence of strong interaction effects, the spin of these modes may fractionalize. Studying a two-dimensional array of coupled insulating spin-1/2 chains, we show how spatially modulated magnetic fields and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions can be exploited to realize chiral spin liquids or integer and fractional spin quantum Hall effect phases. These are characterized by a gapped bulk spectrum and gapless chiral edge modes with fractional spin. The spin fractionalization is manifested in the quantized spin conductance, which can be used to probe the fractional spin quantum Hall effect. We analyze the system via bosonization and perturbative renormalization group techniques that allow us to identify the most relevant terms induced by the spin-spin interactions that open gaps and render the system topological under well-specified resonance conditions. We show explicitly that the emerging phase is a genuine chiral spin liquid. We suggest that the phases can be realized experimentally in synthetic spin chains and ultracold atom systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fee0d3de95234328906672a57aefd2b6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-fee0d3de95234328906672a57aefd2b62024-11-25T15:01:26ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642024-11-016404320010.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043200Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arraysEven ThingstadPierre FromholzFlavio RonettiDaniel LossJelena KlinovajaTopological magnetic insulators host chiral gapless edge modes. In the presence of strong interaction effects, the spin of these modes may fractionalize. Studying a two-dimensional array of coupled insulating spin-1/2 chains, we show how spatially modulated magnetic fields and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions can be exploited to realize chiral spin liquids or integer and fractional spin quantum Hall effect phases. These are characterized by a gapped bulk spectrum and gapless chiral edge modes with fractional spin. The spin fractionalization is manifested in the quantized spin conductance, which can be used to probe the fractional spin quantum Hall effect. We analyze the system via bosonization and perturbative renormalization group techniques that allow us to identify the most relevant terms induced by the spin-spin interactions that open gaps and render the system topological under well-specified resonance conditions. We show explicitly that the emerging phase is a genuine chiral spin liquid. We suggest that the phases can be realized experimentally in synthetic spin chains and ultracold atom systems.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043200 |
| spellingShingle | Even Thingstad Pierre Fromholz Flavio Ronetti Daniel Loss Jelena Klinovaja Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays Physical Review Research |
| title | Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays |
| title_full | Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays |
| title_fullStr | Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays |
| title_short | Fractional spin quantum Hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays |
| title_sort | fractional spin quantum hall effect in weakly coupled spin chain arrays |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043200 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eventhingstad fractionalspinquantumhalleffectinweaklycoupledspinchainarrays AT pierrefromholz fractionalspinquantumhalleffectinweaklycoupledspinchainarrays AT flavioronetti fractionalspinquantumhalleffectinweaklycoupledspinchainarrays AT danielloss fractionalspinquantumhalleffectinweaklycoupledspinchainarrays AT jelenaklinovaja fractionalspinquantumhalleffectinweaklycoupledspinchainarrays |