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arXiv · 2604.11880

Classification and correlation signatures of chiral spin liquids on the pyrochlore lattice

Chunxiao Liu·Leon Balents·Yasir Iqbal
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Abstract

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 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.

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Chunxiao Liu, Leon Balents, Yasir Iqbal. 2026-04-13. Classification and correlation signatures of chiral spin liquids on the pyrochlore lattice. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633%2Fae8572

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