Thermally enhanced Majorana-mediated spin transport in the Kitaev model

We study how stable the Majorana-mediated spin transport in a quantum spin Kitaev model is against thermal fluctuations. Using the time-dependent thermal pure quantum state method, we examine finite-temperature spin dynamics in the Kitaev model. The model exhibits two characteristic temperatures, T-L and T-H, which correspond to energy scales of the local flux and the itinerant Majorana fermion, respectively. At low temperatures (T << T-L), an almost flux-free state is realized, and the spin excitation propagates in a similar way to that for the ground state. Namely, after the magnetic pulse is introduced at one of the edges, the itinerant Majorana fermions propagate the spin excitations even through the quantum spin liquid state region, and oscillations in the spin moment appear in the other edge with a tiny magnetic field. When T similar to T-L, larger oscillations in the spin moments are induced in the other edge, compared with the results at the ground state. At higher temperatures, excited Z(2) fluxes disturb the coherent motion of the itinerant Majorana fermions, which suppresses the spin propagation. Our results demonstrate a crucial role of thermal fluctuations in the Majorana-mediated spin transport.

Automated summary

We study the stability of Majorana-mediated spin transport against thermal fluctuations in a quantum spin Kitaev model. At low temperatures, spin excitations propagate in a similar way to the ground state, while at higher temperatures, thermal fluctuations suppress spin propagation.