Testing topological phase transitions in Kitaev materials under in-plane magnetic fields: Application to α−RuCl3

Abstract

Material realization of the non-Abelian Kitaev spin liquid phase - an example of Ising topological order (ITO) - has been the subject of intense research in recent years. The $4d$ honeycomb Mott insulator $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ has emerged as a leading candidate, as it enters a field-induced magnetically disordered state where a half-integer quantized thermal Hall conductivity $\kappa_{xy}$ was reported. Further, a recent report of a sign change in the quantized $\kappa_{xy}$ across a certain crystallographic direction is strong evidence for a topological phase transition between two ITOs with opposite Chern numbers. Although this is a fascinating result, independent verification remains elusive, and one may ask if there is a thermodynamic quantity sensitive to the phase transition. Here we propose that the magnetotropic coefficient $k$ under in-plane magnetic fields would serve such a purpose. We report a singular feature in $k$ that indicates a topological phase transition across the $\hat{b}$-axis where ITO is prohibited by a $C_2$ symmetry. If the transition in $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ is indeed a direct transition between ITOs, then this feature in $k$ should be observable.