Paper detail

Emergent Quantum Coherence from Instabilities of a Perturbed Fractionalized Spin Liquid

Effects of perturbations on topologically ordered (TO) states with fractionalized excitations is very intriguing. While small perturbations are not expected to affect a robust TO, sizable perturbations must lead to onset of novel routes to order(s). Observability of such emergent orders in real condensed matter systems continues to be an open issue of paramount interest. Here, we detail how a featureless Kitaev spin liquid with rigorous TO gives way to partial topological ordered state(s) coexisting with a wide staircase of novel `excitonic' orders of fractionalized entities in a Zeeman field. We provide quasi-exact and novel realization for a range of strange features, from nodal spin-metals, fractionalization in selective-Mott states, to Luttinger surfaces and hidden coherence, all characteristics of the influential resonating- valence-bond as well as fractionalized-Fermi-Liquid views in the context of strange metals. As a novel application, we show how Josephson-junction array may exhibit fractional Josephson oscillations upon flux tuning as a particularly novel manifestation of emergent quantum coherence.