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Toward Kitaev's Sixteenfold Way in a Honeycomb Lattice Model

ORAL

Abstract

Kitaev's sixteenfold way is a classification of exotic topological orders in which Z2 gauge theory is coupled to Majorana fermions of Chern number C. The 16 distinct topological orders within this class, depending on C mod 16, possess a rich variety of Abelian and non-Abelian anyons. We realize more than half of Kitaev's sixteenfold way, corresponding to Chern numbers 0, ±1, ±2, ±3, ±4, and ±8, in an exactly solvable generalization of the Kitaev honeycomb model. For each topological order, we explicitly identify the anyonic excitations and confirm their topological properties. In doing so, we observe that the interplay between lattice symmetry and anyon permutation symmetry may lead to a "weak supersymmetry" in the anyon spectrum. The topological orders in our honeycomb lattice model could be directly relevant for honeycomb Kitaev materials, such as α-RuCl3, and would be distinguishable by their specific quantized values of the thermal Hall conductivity.

Presenters

  • Gabor Halasz

    Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Authors

  • Shangshun Zhang

    University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  • Cristian Batista

    University of Tennessee, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Oakridge National Laboratory, Department of Physics and astronomy, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  • Gabor Halasz

    Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge National Laboratory