diff --git a/_thesis/0_Preface/0.1_Aknowledgements.html b/_thesis/0_Preface/0.1_Aknowledgements.html index 13cca4a..9e7e6f8 100644 --- a/_thesis/0_Preface/0.1_Aknowledgements.html +++ b/_thesis/0_Preface/0.1_Aknowledgements.html @@ -39,34 +39,21 @@ image: -
I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Johannes Knolle and -co-supervisor Professor Derek Lee for guidance and support during this -long process.
-Dan Hdidouan for being an example of how to weather the stress of a -PhD with grace and kindness.
+I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Johannes Knolle and co-supervisor Professor Derek Lee for guidance and support during this long process.
+Dan Hdidouan for being an example of how to weather the stress of a PhD with grace and kindness.
Arnaud for help and guidance…
-Carolyn, Juraci, Ievgeniia and Loli for their patience and -support.
+Carolyn, Juraci, Ievgeniia and Loli for their patience and support.
Nina del Ser
-Brian Tam for his endless energy on our many many calls while we -served as joint Postgraduate reps for the department.
-All the students in CMTH, Halvard, Tom, Chris, Krishnan, David, -Tonny, Emanuele … and particularly to Thank you to the CMT group at TUM -in Munich, Alex and Rohit.
-Gino, Peru and Willian for their collaboration on the Amorphous -Kitaev Model.
+Brian Tam for his endless energy on our many many calls while we served as joint Postgraduate reps for the department.
+All the students in CMTH, Halvard, Tom, Chris, Krishnan, David, Tonny, Emanuele … and particularly to Thank you to the CMT group at TUM in Munich, Alex and Rohit.
+Gino, Peru and Willian for their collaboration on the Amorphous Kitaev Model.
Mr Jeffries who encouraged me to pursue physics
All the gang from Munich, Toni, Mine, Mike, Claudi.
-Dan Simpson, the poet in residence at Imperial and one of my -favourite collaborators during my time at Imperial.
-Lou Khalfaoui for keeping me sane during the lockdown of March 2022. -Sophie Nadel, Julie Ketcher and Kim ??? for their graphic design -expertise and patience.
+Dan Simpson, the poet in residence at Imperial and one of my favourite collaborators during my time at Imperial.
+Lou Khalfaoui for keeping me sane during the lockdown of March 2022. Sophie Nadel, Julie Ketcher and Kim ??? for their graphic design expertise and patience.
All the I-Stemm team, Katerina, Jeremey, John, ….
-And finally, I’d like the thank the staff of the Camberwell Public -Library where the majority of this thesis was written.
-We thank Angus MacKinnon for helpful discussions, Sophie Nadel for -input when preparing the figures.
+And finally, I’d like the thank the staff of the Camberwell Public Library where the majority of this thesis was written.
+We thank Angus MacKinnon for helpful discussions, Sophie Nadel for input when preparing the figures.
diff --git a/_thesis/1_Introduction/1_Intro.html b/_thesis/1_Introduction/1_Intro.html index 2f5a923..6dc4b9c 100644 --- a/_thesis/1_Introduction/1_Intro.html +++ b/_thesis/1_Introduction/1_Intro.html @@ -28,13 +28,10 @@ image:Spin-orbit coupling is a relativistic effect, that very roughly -corresponds to the fact that in the frame of reference of a moving -electron, the electric field of nearby nuclei look like magnetic fields -to which the electron spin couples. This effectively couples the spatial -and spin parts of the electron wavefunction, meaning that the lattice -structure can influence the form of the spin-spin interactions leading -to spatial anisotropy. This anisotropy will be how we frustrate the Mott -insulators [48,49]. As we saw with the Hubbard model, -interaction effects are only strong or weak in comparison to the -bandwidth or hopping integral \(t\) so -what we need to see strong frustration is a material with strong -spin-orbit coupling \(\lambda\) -relative to its bandwidth \(t\).
-In certain transition metal based compounds, such as those based on -Iridium and Ruthenium, the lattice structure, strong spin-orbit coupling -and narrow bandwidths lead to effective spin-\(\tfrac{1}{2}\) Mott insulating states with -strongly anisotropic spin-spin couplings. These transition metal -compounds, known Kitaev Materials, draw their name from the celebrated -Kitaev Honeycomb Model which is expected to model their low temperature -behaviour [44,50–53].
-At this point we can sketch out a phase diagram like that of fig. 3. When both electron-electron -interactions \(U\) and spin-orbit -couplings \(\lambda\) are small -relative to the bandwidth \(t\) we -recover standard band theory of band insulators and metals. In the upper -left we have the simple Mott insulating state as described by the -Hubbard model. In the lower right, strong spin-orbit coupling gives rise -to Topological insulators (TIs) characterised by symmetry protected edge -modes and non-zero Chern number. Kitaev materials occur in the region -where strong electron-electron interaction and spin-orbit coupling -interact. See [54] for a much more expansive version of -this diagram.
-The Kitaev Honeycomb model [55] was the first concrete spin model -with a QSL ground state. It is defined on the two dimensional honeycomb -lattice and provides an exactly solvable model that can be reduced to a -free fermion problem via a mapping to Majorana fermions. This yields an -extensive number of static \(\mathbb -Z_2\) fluxes tied to an emergent gauge field. The model is -remarkable not only for its QSL ground state but also for its -fractionalised excitations with non-trivial braiding statistics. It has -a rich phase diagram hosting gapless, Abelian and non-Abelian -phases [56] and a finite temperature phase -transition to a thermal metal state [57]. It been proposed that its -non-Abelian excitations could be used to support robust topological -quantum computing [58–60].
-As Kitaev points out in his original paper, the model remains -solvable on any tri-coordinated \(z=3\) -graph which can be 3-edge-coloured. Indeed many generalisations of the -model to [61–65]. -Notably, the Yao-Kivelson model [66] -introduces triangular plaquettes to the honeycomb lattice leading to -spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. These extensions all retain -translation symmetry, likely because edge-colouring and finding the -ground state become much harder without it. Finding the ground state -flux sector and understanding the QSL properties can still be -challenging [67,68]. Undeterred, -this gap lead us to wonder what might happen if we remove translation -symmetry from the Kitaev Model. This might would be a model of a -tri-coordinated, highly bond anisotropic but otherwise amorphous -material.
-Amorphous materials do no have long-range lattice regularities but -covalent compounds can induce short-range regularities in the lattice -structure such as fixed coordination number \(z\). The best examples being amorphous -Silicon and Germanium with \(z=4\) -which are used to make thin-film solar cells [69,70]. -Recently is has been shown that topological insulating (TI) phases can -exist in amorphous systems. Amorphous TIs are characterized by similar -protected edge states to their translation invariant cousins and -generalised topological bulk invariants [71–77]. However, research on amorphous -electronic systems has been mostly focused on non-interacting systems -with a few exceptions, for example, to account for the observation of -superconductivity [78–82] in amorphous materials or very -recently to understand the effect of strong electron repulsion in -TIs [83].
-Amorphous magnetic systems has been investigated since the -1960s, mostly through the adaptation of theoretical tools developed for -disordered systems [84–87] and with -numerical methods [88,89]. -Research on classical Heisenberg and Ising models has been shown to -account for observed behaviour of ferromagnetism, disordered -antiferromagnetism and widely observed spin glass behaviour [90]. -However, the role of spin-anisotropic interactions and quantum effects -in amorphous magnets has not been addressed. It is an open question -whether frustrated magnetic interactions on amorphous lattices can give -rise genuine quantum phases, i.e. to long-range entangled quantum spin -liquids (QSL) [91–94].
-In Chapter 4 I will introduce the Amorphous Kitaev model, a -generalisation of the Kitaev honeycomb model to random lattices with -fixed coordination number three. We will show that this model is a -soluble chiral amorphous quantum spin liquid. The model retains its -exact solubility but, as with the Yao-Kivelson model [66], -the presence of plaquettes with an odd number of sides leads to a -spontaneous breaking of time reversal symmetry. We will confirm prior -observations that the form of the ground state can be written in terms -of the number of sides of elementary plaquettes of the model [64,95]. We unearth a rich phase diagram -displaying Abelian as well as a non-Abelian chiral spin liquid phases. -Furthermore, I show that the system undergoes a finite-temperature phase -transition to a conducting thermal metal state and discuss possible -experimental realisations.
-The next chapter, Chapter 2, will introduce some necessary background -to the Falikov-Kimball Model, the Kitaev Honeycomb Model, disorder and -localisation. Then Chapter 3 introduces and studies the Long Range -Falikov-Kimball Model in one dimension while Chapter 4 focusses on the -Amorphous Kitaev Model.
-Next Chapter: 2 -Background
+Spin-orbit coupling is a relativistic effect, that very roughly corresponds to the fact that in the frame of reference of a moving electron, the electric field of nearby nuclei look like magnetic fields to which the electron spin couples. This effectively couples the spatial and spin parts of the electron wavefunction, meaning that the lattice structure can influence the form of the spin-spin interactions leading to spatial anisotropy. This anisotropy will be how we frustrate the Mott insulators [48,49]. As we saw with the Hubbard model, interaction effects are only strong or weak in comparison to the bandwidth or hopping integral \(t\) so what we need to see strong frustration is a material with strong spin-orbit coupling \(\lambda\) relative to its bandwidth \(t\).
+In certain transition metal based compounds, such as those based on Iridium and Ruthenium, the lattice structure, strong spin-orbit coupling and narrow bandwidths lead to effective spin-\(\tfrac{1}{2}\) Mott insulating states with strongly anisotropic spin-spin couplings. These transition metal compounds, known Kitaev Materials, draw their name from the celebrated Kitaev Honeycomb Model which is expected to model their low temperature behaviour [44,50–53].
+At this point we can sketch out a phase diagram like that of fig. 3. When both electron-electron interactions \(U\) and spin-orbit couplings \(\lambda\) are small relative to the bandwidth \(t\) we recover standard band theory of band insulators and metals. In the upper left we have the simple Mott insulating state as described by the Hubbard model. In the lower right, strong spin-orbit coupling gives rise to Topological insulators (TIs) characterised by symmetry protected edge modes and non-zero Chern number. Kitaev materials occur in the region where strong electron-electron interaction and spin-orbit coupling interact. See [54] for a much more expansive version of this diagram.
+The Kitaev Honeycomb model [55] was the first concrete spin model with a QSL ground state. It is defined on the two dimensional honeycomb lattice and provides an exactly solvable model that can be reduced to a free fermion problem via a mapping to Majorana fermions. This yields an extensive number of static \(\mathbb Z_2\) fluxes tied to an emergent gauge field. The model is remarkable not only for its QSL ground state but also for its fractionalised excitations with non-trivial braiding statistics. It has a rich phase diagram hosting gapless, Abelian and non-Abelian phases [56] and a finite temperature phase transition to a thermal metal state [57]. It been proposed that its non-Abelian excitations could be used to support robust topological quantum computing [58–60].
+As Kitaev points out in his original paper, the model remains solvable on any tri-coordinated \(z=3\) graph which can be 3-edge-coloured. Indeed many generalisations of the model to [61–65]. Notably, the Yao-Kivelson model [66] introduces triangular plaquettes to the honeycomb lattice leading to spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. These extensions all retain translation symmetry, likely because edge-colouring and finding the ground state become much harder without it. Finding the ground state flux sector and understanding the QSL properties can still be challenging [67,68]. Undeterred, this gap lead us to wonder what might happen if we remove translation symmetry from the Kitaev Model. This might would be a model of a tri-coordinated, highly bond anisotropic but otherwise amorphous material.
+Amorphous materials do no have long-range lattice regularities but covalent compounds can induce short-range regularities in the lattice structure such as fixed coordination number \(z\). The best examples being amorphous Silicon and Germanium with \(z=4\) which are used to make thin-film solar cells [69,70]. Recently is has been shown that topological insulating (TI) phases can exist in amorphous systems. Amorphous TIs are characterized by similar protected edge states to their translation invariant cousins and generalised topological bulk invariants [71–77]. However, research on amorphous electronic systems has been mostly focused on non-interacting systems with a few exceptions, for example, to account for the observation of superconductivity [78–82] in amorphous materials or very recently to understand the effect of strong electron repulsion in TIs [83].
+Amorphous magnetic systems has been investigated since the 1960s, mostly through the adaptation of theoretical tools developed for disordered systems [84–87] and with numerical methods [88,89]. Research on classical Heisenberg and Ising models has been shown to account for observed behaviour of ferromagnetism, disordered antiferromagnetism and widely observed spin glass behaviour [90]. However, the role of spin-anisotropic interactions and quantum effects in amorphous magnets has not been addressed. It is an open question whether frustrated magnetic interactions on amorphous lattices can give rise genuine quantum phases, i.e. to long-range entangled quantum spin liquids (QSL) [91–94].
+In chapter 4 I will introduce the Amorphous Kitaev model, a generalisation of the Kitaev honeycomb model to random lattices with fixed coordination number three. We will show that this model is a soluble chiral amorphous quantum spin liquid. The model retains its exact solubility but, as with the Yao-Kivelson model [66], the presence of plaquettes with an odd number of sides leads to a spontaneous breaking of time reversal symmetry. We will confirm prior observations that the form of the ground state can be written in terms of the number of sides of elementary plaquettes of the model [64,95]. We unearth a rich phase diagram displaying Abelian as well as a non-Abelian chiral spin liquid phases. Furthermore, I show that the system undergoes a finite-temperature phase transition to a conducting thermal metal state and discuss possible experimental realisations.
+The next chapter, Chapter 2, will introduce some necessary background to the Falikov-Kimball Model, the Kitaev Honeycomb Model, disorder and localisation. Then chapter 3 introduces and studies the Long Range Falikov-Kimball Model in one dimension while chapter 4 focusses on the Amorphous Kitaev Model.
+Next Chapter: 2 Background