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Published on: March 30, 2017
Fractionalized Prethermalization in a Driven Quantum Spin Liquid
Hui-Ke Jin1, Johannes Knolle1,2,3, Michael Knap1,2
1Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Physics Department, 85748 Garching, Germany.
Abstract:
Quantum spin liquids subject to a periodic drive can display fascinating nonequilibrium heating behavior because of their emergent fractionalized quasiparticles. Here, we investigate a driven Kitaev honeycomb model and examine the dynamics of emergent Majorana matter and Z_{2} flux excitations. We uncover a distinct two-step heating profile-dubbed fractionalized prethermalization-and a quasistationary state with vastly different temperatures for the matter and the flux sectors. We argue that this peculiar prethermalization behavior is a consequence of fractionalization. Furthermore, we discuss an experimentally feasible protocol for preparing a zero-flux initial state of the Kiteav honeycomb model with a low energy density, which can be used to observe fractionalized prethermalization in quantum information processing platforms.
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