On dimers, quasimolecular orbitals, Kitaev physics and beyond in honeycomb lattices

In this talk I will discuss the electronic and magnetic properties of spin-orbit-coupled transition-metal-based Mott insulators under strain and magnetic field effects, with a particular emphasis on the intensively debated alpha-RuX3 (X=Cl, Br, I). I will argue about the role of dimers, quasimolecular orbitals and generalized Kitaev interactions to understand their properties, and will present recent theoretical modelling of these systems as well as their response functions (torque, thermal Hall conductivity,nonlinear optics, etc) in comparison with experimental measurements. I will discuss the relation to spin liquids.

This work has been done in collaboration with David Kaib, Marius Möller,Stephen M. Winter, Amalia Coldea and Radu Coldea.