Kondo Breakdown via Fractionalization in a Frustrated Kondo Lattice Model

Understand

We consider Dirac electrons on the honeycomb lattice Kondo coupled to spin-1/2 degrees of freedom on the kagome lattice.

• The interactions between the spins are chosen along the lines of the Balents-Fisher-Girvin model that is known to host a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ spin liquid and a ferromagnetic phase.
• The model is amenable to sign free auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations.
• While in the ferromagnetic phase the Dirac electrons acquire a gap, they remain massless in the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ spin liquid phase due to the breakdown of Kondo screening.