Thermodynamics of a gauge-frustrated Kitaev spin liquid

This paper discusses a doubly frustrated Kitaev model, in which not only the original spin degrees of freedom are subject to exchange frustration, but also the emergent gauge degrees of freedom, which are exposed to geometric frustration. Using sign-free quantum Monte Carlo simulations, it is shown that this gauge frustration' leads to a suppression of the usual thermal ordering transition, and the Majorana metal of the spin liquid ground state is characterized by a subtle interplay of gauge field and Majorana fermions.