Structure factor of low-energy spin excitations in a S=1/2 kagome antiferromagnet

The ground state of the S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferomagnet on kagome can be viewed as a collection of fermionic spinons bound into small, heavy singlet pairs. Low-energy magnetic excitations in this system correspond to breaking the pairs into individual spinons. We calculate the structure factor for inelastic neutron scattering from independent spinon pairs.Comment: 9 pages. Revised in response to referee reports. References adde

Unified theory of spin and charge in a ferromagnet

We derive a unified theory of spin and charge degrees of freedom in a ferromagnet. The spin-transfer torque and spin electromotive force are examined from the coarse-grained perspective of collective coordinates. The resulting equations of motion reflect a balance of conservative, gyroscopic (Berry-phase), and dissipative forces. We then expand the space of collective coordinates by adding the electric charge. The adiabatic spin-transfer torque and spin emf turn out to be a gyroscopic force; their nonadiabatic counterparts are a dissipative force.Comment: Minor revision in response to referee comment

Unpaired Majorana modes on dislocations and string defects in Kitaev's honeycomb model

We study the gapped phase of Kitaev's honeycomb model (a $Z_2$ spin liquid) on a lattice with topological defects. We find that some dislocations and string defects carry unpaired Majorana fermions. Physical excitations associated with these defects are (complex) fermion modes made out of two (real) Majorana fermions connected by a $Z_2$ gauge string. The quantum state of these modes is robust against local noise and can be changed by winding a $Z_2$ vortex around one of the dislocations. The exact solution respects gauge invariance and reveals a crucial role of the gauge field in the physics of Majorana modes. To facilitate these theoretical developments, we recast the degenerate perturbation theory for spins in the language of Majorana fermions.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures; added a brief history of twists, references, and clarified the count of the topological degeneracy of the ground stat