Classification and correlation signatures of chiral spin liquids on the pyrochlore lattice
We present a systematic classification and variational study of chiral quantum spin liquids on the pyrochlore lattice based on fermionic parton constructions. Focusing on chiral $\mathrm{U(1)}$ and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ spin-liquid {\it Ans"atze}, we characterize their symmetry properties, flux structures, and low-energy spinon spectra within a projective symmetry group framework, and incorporate gauge fluctuations through Gutzwiller-projected wave functions studied by variational Monte Carlo. From the equal-time spin structure factor, we develop correlation-based diagnostics that distinguish gauge-dominated Coulomb phases from states with substantial matter-field and short-range contributions. Distinct chiral flux sectors, though close in energy, exhibit markedly different degrees of emergent $\mathrm{U(1)}$ gauge-field dominance, reflected in the geometry and contrast of pinch-point singularities. Although these states are not competitive ground states of the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg model, they define a physically meaningful family of proximate chiral phases relevant to extended pyrochlore Hamiltonians.
Authors
- Yasir Iqbal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3387-0120)
- Chunxiao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-1291)
- Leon Balents
Institutions
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IN)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Reports on Progress in Physics
- Published
- 2026-07-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/ae8572
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Simons Foundation
- International Centre for Theoretical Sciences
- Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras
- Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara