Order fractionalization in a Kitaev-Kondo model

We describe a mechanism for order fractionalization in a two-dimensional Kondo lattice model, in which electrons interact with a gapless spin liquid of Majorana fermions described by the Yao-Lee model. When the Kondo coupling to the conduction electrons exceeds a critical value, the model develops a superconducting instability into a state with a a spinor order parameter with charge e and spin S = 1/2. The broken symmetry state develops a gapless Majorana Dirac cone in the bulk. By including an appropriate gauge string, we can show that the charge e, spinorial order develops off-diagonal long-range order that allows electrons to coherently tunnel arbitrarily long distances through the spin liquid.

Automated summary

We describe a mechanism of order fractionalization in a two-dimensional Kondo lattice model, where electrons interact with a spin liquid of Majorana fermions described by the Yao-Lee model. When the Kondo coupling exceeds a critical value, the model undergoes a superconducting instability characterized by a spinor order parameter with specific charge and spin. By introducing a gauge string, we show the development of off-diagonal long-range order in the spinorial order, allowing electrons to tunnel coherently through the spin liquid over arbitrary distances.