PHYSICAL REVIEW B 113, 024416 (2026)
DOI: 10.1103/1qmb-c69z
Seong Jun Kwon ,1,2 Kyusung Hwang ,3,* and Suk Bum Chung 2,4,5,†
1Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
2Department of Physics and Natural Science Research Institute, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Republic of Korea
3Department of Applied Physics, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Republic of Korea
4School of Physics, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul 02455, Republic of Korea
5Department of Physics and Institute for Condensed Matter Theory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
Abstract: It is now well understood that non-Kitaev spin interactions can be added to the Kitaev quantum spin liquid by applying external fields. Recent years have seen intensive discussion on the possible phase transitions that these spin interactions induce. In this paper, we will show through the perturbation theory the possibility of accessing a gapped spin liquid phase with a higher Chern number through, in contrast to the cases studied in literature, a continuous phase transition. Such a transition may be induced by external tuning parameters such as electric field and hydrostatic pressure.
