Spin-1 Kitaev-Heisenberg model on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice

Abstract

We study the Kitaev-Heisenberg model with spin-1 local degree of freedom on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice numerically by density matrix renormalization group method. By tuning the relative value of the Kitaev and Heisenberg exchange couplings, we obtain the whole phase diagram with two spin liquid phases and four symmetry broken phases. We identify that the spin liquid phases are gapless by calculating the central charge at the pure Kitaev points without Heisenberg interaction. Comparing to its spin-1/2 counterpart, the position and number of gapless modes of the spin-1 case are quite different. Due to the approximate $Z_2$ local conservations, the expectation value of Wilson loop operator measuring the flux of each plaquette stays near to 1, and the static spin-spin correlations remain short-range in the entire spin liquid phases.