Speaker
Description
The search for Kitaev spin liquid states has recently broadened to include a number of honeycomb materials
with integer spin moments. The qualitative difference with their spin-1/2 counterparts is the presence of single-
ion anisotropy (SIA). This motivates our investigation of the effects of SIA on the ground state of the spin-1
Kitaev-Heisenberg (KH) model using the density-matrix renormalization group which allows construction of
detailed phase diagrams around the Kitaev points. We demonstrate that positive out-of-plane SIA induces an
in-plane vortex state without the need for off-diagonal interactions. Conversely, negative SIA facilitates the
emergence of a ferromagnetic state in presence of antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions, while a Néel state
can emerge for ferromagnetic Heisenberg coupling. These findings, pertinent even for weak SIA, not only
enhance our theoretical understanding of the spin-1 KH model but also propose experimental prospects for
observing these novel magnetic states in material realizations.
