Periodically driven three-dimensional Kitaev model

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a three-dimensional generalization of Kitaev's honeycomb lattice spin model (defined on the hyperhoneycomb lattice) subjected to a harmonic driving of $J_z$, one of the three types of spin-couplings in the Hamiltonian. Using numerical solutions supported by analytical calculations based on a rotating wave approximation, we find that the system responds nonmonotonically to variations in the frequency $\omega$ (while keeping the driving amplitude $J$ fixed), and undergoes dynamical freezing, where at specific values of $\omega$, it gets almost completely locked in the initial state throughout the evolution. However, this freezing occurs only when a constant bias is present in the driving, i.e., when $J_z = J'+ J\cos \omega t$, with $J'\neq 0$. Consequently, the bias acts as a switch that triggers the freezing phenomenon. Dynamical freezing has been previously observed in other integrable systems, such as the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model.