Field-induced phase transitions in the Kitaev-Heisenberg model: A sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo study and possible application to $\alpha$-RuCl3

TL;DR

This study uses sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the Kitaev-Heisenberg model under a magnetic field, finding no evidence of an intermediate quantum spin liquid phase in $ ext{RuCl}_3$, and clarifying its phase transition behavior.

Contribution

The paper provides the first sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo analysis of the KH model under a magnetic field, revealing direct phase transitions and ruling out intermediate QSL phases.

Findings

No intermediate quantum spin liquid phase in the model.

A direct transition from zigzag order to spin-polarized phase.

Finite temperature BKT transition line identified.

Abstract

The frustrated magnet $\alpha$-RuCl3 is one of the prime candidates for realizing a Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL). However, the existence of a field-induced intermediate QSL phase in this material remains under debate. Here, we employ sign-free numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the Kitaev-Heisenberg (KH) model on the honeycomb lattice with $K=-2J$ under an applied magnetic field along the z-direction. Our findings reveal that the system undergoes a direct quantum phase transition from a zigzag magnetically ordered phase to a spin-polarized phase at zero temperature, which belongs to the 3D XY universality class. At finite temperatures, a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition line separates the spin-polarized phase from a quasi-long-range ordered state, eventually terminating at the quantum critical point. Our results convincingly show that there is no intermediate QSL phase in the KH model with a z-direction magnetic field, which we believe will shed important light on understanding experimental observations in $\alpha$-RuCl3.