Perturbative study of the Kitaev model with spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking

Abstract

We analyze the Kitaev model on the triangle-honeycomb lattice whose ground state has recently been shown to be a chiral spin liquid. We consider two perturbative expansions: the isolated-dimer limit containing Abelian anyons and the isolated-triangle limit. In the former case, we derive the low-energy effective theory and discuss the role played by multi-plaquette interactions. In this phase, we also compute the spin-spin correlation functions for any vortex configuration. In the isolated-triangle limit, we show that the effective theory is, at lowest nontrivial order, the Kitaev honeycomb model at the isotropic point. We also compute the next-order correction which opens a gap and yields non-Abelian anyons.

7 pages, 4 figures, published version