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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Ground state properties of the doped Kitaev-Heisenberg chain: Topological superconducting and Mott-insulating phases driven by magnetic frustration

Cliò Efthimia Agrapidis

Satoshi Nishimoto*

  • Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, PL-02093 Warsaw, Poland and Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria

  • Department of Physics, Technical University Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany and Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics, IFW Dresden, 01171 Dresden, Germany

  • *Contact author: s.nishimoto@ifw-dresden.de
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Phys. Rev. B 114, L051109 – Published 21 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8jr6-87ds

Abstract

We study the hole-doped Kitaev-Heisenberg chain using the density-matrix renormalization group. In the Kitaev-only limit, the bond-directional exchange itself promotes pairing, favoring spin-singlet and spin-triplet superconducting tendencies for antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic Kitaev couplings, respectively, together with finite-size Majorana edge correlations suggestive of topological superconductivity. In the full Kitaev-Heisenberg chain, cooperative J- and K exchanges broadly stabilize superconductivity, while competition between J and K induces a strong filling dependence and enables superconductivity even when both J and K are weak. At quarter filling, this competition produces a Mott insulator with spontaneous hopping dimerization. These results identify magnetic frustration as a common mechanism underlying superconducting and interaction-driven insulating phases in doped Kitaev systems.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, L051109– Published 21 July, 2026
  • Received 31 March 2026
  • Revised 20 June 2026
  • Accepted 9 July 2026
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