Exact chiral-spin-liquid state in a Kitaev-type spin model

We study a frustrated two-dimensional lattice spin model with Kitaev-type interaction. The lattice is obtained from the honeycomb lattice by replacing half of its sites with triangles. Using the SO(3) Majorana representation of spin, the model is exactly mapped into a ${Z}₂$ lattice gauge theory of complex fermions with standard Gauss law constraint. We show that the ground state of the model is a chiral spin liquid, and it has gapless excitations. The Chern number of the ground state is $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$, implying the existence of a chiral edge mode. The vortex excitation of the model is bound with a Majorana zero mode, such mode behaves as non-Abelian anyons.