Distinct Spin Liquids and their Transitions in Spin-1/2 XXZ Kagome Antiferromagnets

TL;DR

This study uses density matrix renormalization group methods to explore various spin-liquid phases in spin-1/2 XXZ kagome antiferromagnets, revealing their independence from anisotropy and continuous evolution between different spin liquids.

Contribution

It demonstrates that spin-liquid phases in XXZ kagome antiferromagnets are robust against anisotropy and identifies continuous transitions between different spin liquids.

Findings

Spin liquid phases are independent of XXZ anisotropy.

Both Ising and XY limits host the same spin liquids as the isotropic model.

Continuous evolution between time-reversal-invariant and chiral spin liquids.

Abstract

By using the density matrix renormalization group, we study the spin-liquid phases of spin-$1/2$ XXZ kagome antiferromagnets. We find that the emergence of spin liquid phase does not depend on the anisotropy of the XXZ interaction. In particular, the two extreme limits---Ising (strong $S^z$ interaction) and XY (zero $S^z$ interaction)---host the same spin-liquid phases as the isotropic Heisenberg model. Both the time-reversal-invariant spin liquid and the chiral spin liquid with spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking are obtained. We show they evolve continuously into each other by tuning the second- and third-neighbor interactions. At last, we discuss the possible implication of our results on the nature of spin liquid in nearest neighbor XXZ kagome antiferromagnets, including the most studied nearest neighbor spin-$1/2$ kagome anti-ferromagnetic Heisenberg model.