Hidden variable ℤ2 topological order in a bilayer kagomé antiferromagnet
Abstract
Topological orders in realistic systems are quite rare, raising one fundamental question of whether they might be harbored with hidden degrees of freedom rather than directly exposed in conventional spins or electrons. We here propose a set of hidden variables and their effective interactions in a bilayer kagomé antiferromagnet. By properly organizing four local states of the spin dimer into two pseudospin-1/2 variables (τ and μ), we identify a regime where an effective Balents-Fisher-Girvin model emerges, realizing a ℤ2 topological order in the hidden τ sector while the auxiliary μ sector remains a trivial paramagnet. This hidden nature drastically alters the experimental manifestations. Physical spins map to composite objects, typically convolving fractionalized anyon continua with non-topological magnon excitations. Nevertheless, specific symmetry-selected channels, such as the longitudinal intralayer response, exclusively reveal the bare two-vison continuum without collective-mode dressing. Our findings demonstrate that the topological order could be buried in certain hidden and emergent degrees of freedom, pointing to a promising pathway for seeking elusive topological states disguised within hidden internal degrees of freedom.
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BibTeX
@misc{tian2026hidden,
title = {{Hidden variable $\mathbbZ_2$ topological order in a bilayer kagomé antiferromagnet}},
author = {Hao Tian and Pengwei Zhao and Gang v. Chen},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.03073},
eprint = {2611.03073},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.03073},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Hidden variable ℤ_2 topological order in a bilayer kagomé antiferromagnet
AU - Hao Tian
AU - Pengwei Zhao
AU - Gang v. Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.03073
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.03073
AB - Topological orders in realistic systems are quite rare, raising one fundamental question of whether they might be harbored with hidden degrees of freedom rather than directly exposed in conventional spins or electrons. We here propose a set of hidden variables and their effective interactions in a bilayer kagomé antiferromagnet. By properly organizing four local states of the spin dimer into two pseudospin-1/2 variables (τ and μ), we identify a regime where an effective Balents-Fisher-Girvin model emerges, realizing a ℤ_2 topological order in the hidden τ sector while the auxiliary μ sector remains a trivial paramagnet. This hidden nature drastically alters the experimental manifestations. Physical spins map to composite objects, typically convolving fractionalized anyon continua with non-topological magnon excitations. Nevertheless, specific symmetry-selected channels, such as the longitudinal intralayer response, exclusively reveal the bare two-vison continuum without collective-mode dressing. Our findings demonstrate that the topological order could be buried in certain hidden and emergent degrees of freedom, pointing to a promising pathway for seeking elusive topological states disguised within hidden internal degrees of freedom.
ER -