Quantum spin liquid with a Majorana Fermi surface on the three-dimensional hyperoctagon lattice

Motivated by the recent synthesis of $\beta$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ -- a spin-orbit entangled $j=1/2$ Mott insulator with a three-dimensional lattice structure of the Ir$^{4+}$ ions -- we consider generalizations of the Kitaev model believed to capture some of the microscopic interactions between the Iridium moments on various trivalent lattice structures in three spatial dimensions. Of particular interest is the so-called hyperoctagon lattice -- the premedial lattice of the hyperkagome lattice, for which the ground state is a gapless quantum spin liquid where the gapless Majorana modes form an extended two-dimensional Majorana Fermi surface. We demonstrate that this Majorana Fermi surface is inherently protected by lattice symmetries and discuss possible instabilities. We thus provide the first example of an analytically tractable microscopic model of interacting SU(2) spin-1/2 degrees of freedom in three spatial dimensions that harbors a spin liquid with a two-dimensional spinon Fermi surface

Renyi entropies for classical stringnet models

In quantum mechanics, stringnet condensed states - a family of prototypical states exhibiting non-trivial topological order - can be classified via their long-range entanglement properties, in particular topological corrections to the prevalent area law of the entanglement entropy. Here we consider classical analogs of such stringnet models whose partition function is given by an equal-weight superposition of classical stringnet configurations. Our analysis of the Shannon and Renyi entropies for a bipartition of a given system reveals that the prevalent volume law for these classical entropies is augmented by subleading topological corrections that are intimately linked to the anyonic theories underlying the construction of the classical models. We determine the universal values of these topological corrections for a number of underlying anyonic theories including su(2)_k, su(N)_1, and su(N)_2 theories

Non-local updates for quantum Monte Carlo simulations

We review the development of update schemes for quantum lattice models simulated using world line quantum Monte Carlo algorithms. Starting from the Suzuki-Trotter mapping we discuss limitations of local update algorithms and highlight the main developments beyond Metropolis-style local updates: the development of cluster algorithms, their generalization to continuous time, the worm and directed-loop algorithms and finally a generalization of the flat histogram method of Wang and Landau to quantum systems.Comment: 14 pages, article for the proceedings of the "The Monte Carlo Method in the Physical Sciences: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Metropolis Algorithm", Los Alamos, June 9-11, 200

Relevance of the Heisenberg-Kitaev model for the honeycomb lattice iridates A_2IrO_3

Combining thermodynamic measurements with theoretical density functional and thermodynamic calculations we demonstrate that the honeycomb lattice iridates A2IrO3 (A = Na, Li) are magnetically ordered Mott insulators where the magnetism of the effective spin-orbital S = 1/2 moments can be captured by a Heisenberg-Kitaev (HK) model with Heisenberg interactions beyond nearest-neighbor exchange. Experimentally, we observe an increase of the Curie-Weiss temperature from \theta = -125 K for Na2IrO3 to \theta = -33 K for Li2IrO3, while the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature remains roughly the same T_N = 15 K for both materials. Using finite-temperature functional renormalization group calculations we show that this evolution of \theta, T_N, the frustration parameter f = \theta/T_N, and the zig-zag magnetic ordering structure suggested for both materials by density functional theory can be captured within this extended HK model. Combining our experimental and theoretical results, we estimate that Na2IrO3 is deep in the magnetically ordered regime of the HK model (\alpha \approx 0.25), while Li2IrO3 appears to be close to a spin-liquid regime (0.6 < \alpha < 0.7).Comment: Version accepted for publication in PRL. Additional DFT and thermodynamic calculations have been included. 6 pages of supplementary material include

Chiral spin liquid and emergent anyons in a Kagome lattice Mott insulator

Topological phases in frustrated quantum spin systems have fascinated researchers for decades. One of the earliest proposals for such a phase was the chiral spin liquid put forward by Kalmeyer and Laughlin in 1987 as the bosonic analogue of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Elusive for many years, recent times have finally seen a number of models that realize this phase. However, these models are somewhat artificial and unlikely to be found in realistic materials. Here, we take an important step towards the goal of finding a chiral spin liquid in nature by examining a physically motivated model for a Mott insulator on the Kagome lattice with broken time-reversal symmetry. We first provide a theoretical justification for the emergent chiral spin liquid phase in terms of a network model perspective. We then present an unambiguous numerical identification and characterization of the universal topological properties of the phase, including ground state degeneracy, edge physics, and anyonic bulk excitations, by using a variety of powerful numerical probes, including the entanglement spectrum and modular transformations.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures; partially supersedes arXiv:1303.696

Ramping fermions in optical lattices across a Feshbach resonance

We study the properties of ultracold Fermi gases in a three-dimensional optical lattice when crossing a Feshbach resonance. By using a zero-temperature formalism, we show that three-body processes are enhanced in a lattice system in comparison to the continuum case. This poses one possible explanation for the short molecule lifetimes found when decreasing the magnetic field across a Feshbach resonance. Effects of finite temperatures on the molecule formation rates are also discussed by computing the fraction of double-occupied sites. Our results show that current experiments are performed at temperatures considerably higher than expected: lower temperatures are required for fermionic systems to be used to simulate quantum Hamiltonians. In addition, by relating the double occupancy of the lattice to the temperature, we provide a means for thermometry in fermionic lattice systems, previously not accessible experimentally. The effects of ramping a filled lowest band across a Feshbach resonance when increasing the magnetic field are also discussed: fermions are lifted into higher bands due to entanglement of Bloch states, in good agreement with recent experiments.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Overcoming the critical slowing down of flat-histogram Monte Carlo simulations: Cluster updates and optimized broad-histogram ensembles

We study the performance of Monte Carlo simulations that sample a broad histogram in energy by determining the mean first-passage time to span the entire energy space of d-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising/Potts models. We first show that flat-histogram Monte Carlo methods with single-spin flip updates such as the Wang-Landau algorithm or the multicanonical method perform sub-optimally in comparison to an unbiased Markovian random walk in energy space. For the d=1,2,3 Ising model, the mean first-passage time \tau scales with the number of spins N=L^d as \tau \propto N^2L^z. The critical exponent z is found to decrease as the dimensionality d is increased. In the mean-field limit of infinite dimensions we find that z vanishes up to logarithmic corrections. We then demonstrate how the slowdown characterized by z>0 for finite d can be overcome by two complementary approaches - cluster dynamics in connection with Wang-Landau sampling and the recently developed ensemble optimization technique. Both approaches are found to improve the random walk in energy space so that \tau \propto N^2 up to logarithmic corrections for the d=1 and d=2 Ising model

Strong-disorder renormalization for interacting non-Abelian anyon systems in two dimensions

We consider the effect of quenched spatial disorder on systems of interacting, pinned non-Abelian anyons as might arise in disordered Hall samples at filling fractions \nu=5/2 or \nu=12/5. In one spatial dimension, such disordered anyon models have previously been shown to exhibit a hierarchy of infinite randomness phases. Here, we address systems in two spatial dimensions and report on the behavior of Ising and Fibonacci anyons under the numerical strong-disorder renormalization group (SDRG). In order to manage the topology-dependent interactions generated during the flow, we introduce a planar approximation to the SDRG treatment. We characterize this planar approximation by studying the flow of disordered hard-core bosons and the transverse field Ising model, where it successfully reproduces the known infinite randomness critical point with exponent \psi ~ 0.43. Our main conclusion for disordered anyon models in two spatial dimensions is that systems of Ising anyons as well as systems of Fibonacci anyons do not realize infinite randomness phases, but flow back to weaker disorder under the numerical SDRG treatment.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Optimized Folding Simulations of Protein A

We describe optimized parallel tempering simulations of the 46-residue B-fragment of protein A. Native-like configurations with a root-mean-square deviation of approximately 3A to the experimentally determined structure (Protein Data Bank identifier 1BDD) are found. However, at biologically relevant temperatures such conformations appear with only about 10% frequency in our simulations. Possible short comings in our energy function are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure