Fluctuation-induced first order phase transitions in Kitaev-like $d^4$ honeycomb magnet

Abstract

We study numerically a bosonic analog of the Kitaev honeycomb model, which is a minimal model for $4d^4/5d^4$ quantum magnets with honeycomb lattice geometry. We construct its phase diagram by a combination of Landau theory analysis and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, we show that the phase boundaries between the paramagnetic state and magnetically ordered states are generically fluctuation-induced first order phase transitions. Our results are potentially applicable to Ru$^{4+}$- and Ir$^{5+}$-based honeycomb magnets.