Dynamical properties of the honeycomb-lattice iridatesNa2IrO3

Abstract

We investigate the dynamical properties of ${\rm Na_2IrO_3}$. For five effective models proposed for ${\rm Na_2IrO_3}$, we numerically calculate dynamical structure factors (DSFs) with an exact diagonalization method. An effective model obtained from $ab$ $initio$ calculations explains inelastic neutron scattering experiments adequately. We further calculate excitation modes based on linearized spin-wave theory. The spin-wave excitation of the effective models obtained by $ab$ $initio$ calculations disagrees with the low-lying excitation of DSFs. We attribute this discrepancy to the location of ${\rm Na_2IrO_3}$ in a parameter space close to the phase boundary with the Kitaev spin-liquid phase.