Phases and quantum phase transitions in the anisotropic antiferromagnetic Kitaev-Heisenberg- Γ magnet

We study the Kitaev-Heisenberg-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ model with antiferromagnetic Kitaev exchanges in the strong anisotropic (toric code) limit to understand the phases and the intervening phase transitions between the gapped ${Z}₂$ quantum spin liquid and the spin-ordered (in the Heisenberg limit) as well as paramagnetic phases (in the pseudodipolar, $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$, limit). We find that the paramagnetic phase obtained in the large $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ limit has no topological entanglement entropy and is proximate to a gapless critical point of a system described by equal superposition of differently oriented stacked one-dimensional ${Z}₂\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}₂$ symmetry protected topological phases. Using a combination of exact diagonalization calculations and field theoretic analysis we map out the phases and phase transitions to reveal the complete phase diagram as a function of the Heisenberg, the Kitaev, and the pseudodipolar interactions. Our work shows a rich plethora of unconventional phases and phase transitions and provides a comprehensive understanding of the physics of anisotropic Kitaev-Heisenberg-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ systems along with our recent paper [Phys. Rev. B 102, 235124 (2020)] where the ferromagnetic Kitaev exchange was studied.