Abstract
The Kitaev model is an exactly solvable quantum-spin-liquid model defined on a honeycomb lattice with S = 1/2. The key element underlying this model is the bond-anisotropic Kitaev interaction. However, in a spin-only system, it is unrealistic to have such anisotropic interactions. In this talk, I will show that the Kitaev interaction can be realized in a Mott insulator α-RuCl3, which has an effective spin of 1/2 by entangling the spin and orbital degrees of freedom. I will also show that by applying an in-plane magnetic field, the zigzag magnetic order ground state in α-RuCl3 can be completely suppressed, and a quantumspin-liquid state can be induced. More recently, we extend the Kitaev physics to higher-spin system, where we find in a honeycomb-lattice antiferromagnet Na3Ni2BiO6 that there is a profound 1/3 magnetization plateau, which is stabilized by the Kitaev interaction, as evidenced from the neutron spectroscopy. This will also be discussed in the presentation.
Biography
Jinsheng Wen is a Professor at the School of Physics in Nanjing University. Prof. Wen got his Bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University in 2005, and PhD from Stony Brook University in 2010. From 2010 to 2012, he was a postdoc at University of California at Berkeley, and since 2013 he has been appointed as a full professor by Nanjing University. He has been committed to the study of strongly correlated electronic systems including high-temperature superconductors and quantum magnets using neutron spectroscopy. In recent years, his group has found several novel quantum spin states and unconventional excitations. Based on these results, they published 2 papers in Nature Physics, 5 papers in PRL, 4 in Nature Communications and 1 in PRX. He has won numerous awards and honors, including National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2022, Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Medal for Young Scientists and Jiangsu Distinguished Young Physicists Prize in 2020, and National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars and Distinguished Young Scholars of Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation in 2018.
This event is jointly organized by the Department of Physics and HK Quantum Institute of Science & Technology.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend.