Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter in which magnetic moments remain disordered and entangled even at absolute zero, defying the usual tendency of spins to freeze into ordered patterns. Frustrated magnets — materials in which competing magnetic interactions cannot all be satisfied simultaneously due to geometric constraints — are prime candidates for hosting these states, and understanding them requires tools from topology, quantum information, and many-body physics. A central focus of current research is the Kitaev model, an exactly solvable system on a honeycomb lattice that predicts a spin liquid ground state with non-Abelian anyons, particles whose braiding could in principle form the basis of fault-tolerant quantum computation. Whether real candidate materials such as α-RuCl₃, where spin-orbit coupling and Mott physics conspire to approximate Kitaev interactions, actually realize a true spin liquid — and how proximate phases like superconductivity emerge nearby — remains an open and intensely contested question.

Works

50,998

Total citations

784,481

Keywords

Quantum Spin LiquidsFrustrated MagnetsSpin-Orbit CouplingKitaev ModelMott InsulatorsSpin Dynamics