Non-Kitaev spin liquids in Kitaev materials

Abstract

We point out that the Kitaev materials may not necessarily support Kitaev spin liquid. It is well-known that having a Kitaev term in the spin interaction is not the sufficient condition for the Kitaev spin liquid ground state. Many other spin liquids may be stabilized by the competing spin interactions of the systems. We thus explore the possibilities of non-Kitaev spin liquids in the honeycomb Kitaev materials. We carry out a systematic classification of gapped $\mathbb{Z}_2$ spin liquids using the Schwinger boson representation for the spin variables. The presence of strong spin-orbit coupling in the Kitaev materials brings new ingredients into the projective symmetry group classification of the non-Kitaev spin liquid. We predict the spectroscopic properties of these gapped non-Kitaev spin liquids. Moreover, among the gapped spin liquids that we discover, we identify the spin liquid whose spinon condensation leads to the magnetic Bragg peak structure of the zig-zag magnetic order that was observed in Na$_2$IrO$_3$ and $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$. We further discuss the possibility of gapped $\mathbb{Z}_2$ spin liquid and the deconfined quantum criticality from the zig-zag magnetic order to spin dimerization in pressurized $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$.