Dynamic orders of a Quantum Spin Liquid at Non-zero Temperatures

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that dynamic signatures, specifically oscillations in spin correlation functions, can identify quantum spin liquids at non-zero temperatures, providing a new method to detect these elusive states.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of a dynamic order characterized by oscillations in spin correlations as a signature of quantum spin liquids, supported by large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

Findings

Identification of oscillations in spin correlation functions as a dynamic signature.

Proposal that dynamic order can detect featureless thermal phase transitions.

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations confirm the onset of dynamic signatures in the spin liquid phase.

Abstract

A quantum spin liquid hosts massive quantum entanglement whose identification is one of the most significant problems in physics. Yet, its detection is known to be notoriously difficult because of featureless properties without a symmetry order parameter. Here, we demonstrate dynamic signatures of a quantum spin liquid state by investigating Kitaev's spin model on the hyper-honeycomb lattice, where a quantum spin liquid state is stabilized as a stable thermodynamic phase. The real-time dynamics of spin correlation function is obtained with the large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulation. We find the onset of a characteristic oscillation in dynamic local spin correlation as entering the quantum spin liquid phase. Our results show that a quantum spin liquid may be characterized by a sharp growth of coherent spin dynamics of the system, which we name as a dynamic order. We further propose that a dynamic-order may naturally detect a featureless thermal phase transition, which has been reported in a class of strongly correlated materials.