2020/09/09 by Alexandros Metavitsiadis, Wolfram Brenig
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Delocalized electron #Fractionalization #Hamiltonian (control theory) #Magnetic field #Magnetic flux #Mathematics #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Symmetry breaking #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.103.195102
published as Phys. Rev. B 103, 195102 (2021) · 7 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2020/09/09 · openalex publication_date 2021/05/03 · arxiv updated 2021/05/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We study the Kitaev spin-1/2 ladder, a model which exhibits self-localization due to fractionalization caused by exchange frustration. When a weak magnetic field is applied, the model is described by an effective fermionic Hamiltonian, with an additional time-reversal symmetry-breaking term. We show that this term alone is not capable of delocalizing the system but flux mobility is a prerequisite. For magnetic fields larger but comparable to the flux gap, fluxes become mobile and drive the system into a delocalized regime, featuring finite dc transport coefficients. Our findings are based on numerical techniques, exact diagonalization, and dynamical quantum typicality, from which we present results for the specific heat, the dynamical energy current correlation function, as well as the inverse participation ratio, contrasting the spin against the fermion representation.