The quantum spin liquid material herbertsmithite is described by an antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice with non-negligible Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction~(DMI). A well established phase transition to the $mathbf q=0$ long-ran
ge order occurs in this model when the DMI strength increases, but the precise nature of a small-DMI phase remains controversial. Here, we describe a new phase obtained from Schwinger-boson mean-field theory that is stable at small DMI, and which can explain the dispersionless spectrum seen in inelastic neutron scattering experiment by Han et al (Nature (London) 492, 406 (2012)}). It is a time-reversal symmetry breaking $mathbb Z_2$ spin liquid, with the unique property of a small and constant spin gap in an extended region of the Brillouin zone. The phase diagram as a function of DMI and spin size is given, and dynamical spin structure factors are presented.
We present a general review of the projective symmetry group classification of fermionic quantum spin liquids for lattice models of spin $S=1/2$. We then introduce a systematic generalization of the approach for symmetric $mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin l
iquids to the one of chiral phases (i.e., singlet states that break time reversal and lattice reflection, but conserve their product). We apply this framework to classify and discuss possible chiral spin liquids on triangular and kagome lattices. We give a detailed prescription on how to construct quadratic spinon Hamiltonians and microscopic wave functions for each representation class on these lattices. Among the chiral $mathbb{Z}_2$ states, we study the subset of U(1) phases variationally in the antiferromagnetic $J_1$-$J_2$-$J_d$ Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice. We discuss static spin structure factors and symmetry constraints on the bulk spectra of these phases.
We determine dynamical response functions of the S=1/2 Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice based on large-scale exact diagonalizations combined with a continued fraction technique. The dynamical spin structure factor has importan
t spectral weight predominantly along the boundary of the extended Brillouin zone and energy scans reveal broad response extending over a range of 2 sim 3J concomitant with pronounced intensity at lowest available energies. Dispersive features are largely absent. Dynamical singlet correlations -- which are relevant for inelastic light probes -- reveal a similar broad response, with a high intensity at low frequencies omega/J lesssim 0.2J. These low energy singlet excitations do however not seem to favor a specific valence bond crystal, but instead spread over many symmetry allowed eigenstates.
