Dynamic order of a quantum spin liquid at nonzero temperatures
Phys. Rev. B 113, 115118 – Published 9 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2r4t-tmqn
Abstract
A quantum spin liquid hosts massive quantum entanglement whose identification is one of the most significant problems in physics. Yet, its detection is known to be notoriously difficult because of featureless properties without a symmetry order parameter. Here, we demonstrate dynamic signatures of a quantum spin liquid state by investigating Kitaev's spin model on the hyperhoneycomb lattice, where a quantum spin liquid state is stabilized as a stable thermodynamic phase. The real-time dynamics of spin correlation function is obtained with the large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulation. We find the onset of a characteristic oscillation in dynamic local spin correlation as entering the quantum spin liquid phase. Our results show that an isotrophic three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquid can be characterized by a sharp growth of coherent spin dynamics of the system, which we refer to as a dynamic order. We further propose that a dynamic order may help detect a class of featureless symmetric thermal transitions.
