Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev type physics in the strained Kitaev honeycomb model

TL;DR

This paper explores how strained Kitaev honeycomb models can emulate SYK physics by inducing flat bands and effective random interactions among Majorana modes, potentially realizing SYK-like behavior in a solid-state system.

Contribution

It demonstrates that strain-induced flat bands in the Kitaev model can lead to SYK-like physics through effective random interactions among Majorana modes.

Findings

Strain creates flat bands similar to Landau levels.

Weak perturbations induce effective random interactions.

The model exhibits properties akin to the SYK model.

Abstract

In this work, we investigate whether the Kitaev honeycomb model can serve as a starting point to realize the intriguing physics of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model. The starting point is to strain the system, which leads to flat bands reminiscent of Landau levels, thereby quenching the kinetic energy. The presence of weak residual perturbations, such as Heisenberg interactions and the $\gamma$-term, creates effective interactions between the Majorana modes when projected into the flux-free sector. We assume the resulting interactions to be effectively random. This leads to a bipartite Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model (b-SYK) with very similar properties as the SYK model. We also hypothesize under which conditions one would expect the standard SYK model in such a setup.