Quantum Spin Liquids: Models and Materials

Quantum spin liquids are spin systems which do not show conventional  magnetic ordering till lowest temperatures due to quantum fluctuations and frustrated magnetic interactions but have interesting topological ground states. These ground states are highly entangled and exhibit unusual fractionalized excitations.  I will first give a general introduction to quantum spin liquid systems and then briefly discuss the particular cases of honeycomb lattice Kitaev model and pyrochlore lattice models to demonstrate these aspects. Quantum spin liquids are spin systems which do not show conventional  magnetic ordering till lowest temperatures due to quantum fluctuations and frustrated magnetic interactions but have interesting topological ground states. These ground states are highly entangled and exhibit unusual fractionalized excitations.  I will first give a general introduction to quantum spin liquid systems and then briefly discuss the particular cases of honeycomb lattice Kitaev model and pyrochlore lattice models to demonstrate these aspects.