Based on the Dirac spinor representation of the SO(4) group, we discuss the relationship between three types of representation of spin in terms of Majorana fermions, namely the Kitaev representation, the SO(3) representation and the SO(4) chiral representation. Comparing the three types, we show that the Hilbert space of the SO(3) representation is different from the other two by requiring pairing of sites, but it has the advantage over the other two in that no unphysical states are involved. As an example of its application, we present a new alternative solution of the Kitaev honeycomb model. Our new solution involves no unphysical states which enables a systematic calculation of physical observables. Finally, we discuss an extension of the model to a more general exactly soluble Z2 gauge theory interacting with complex fermions.

We develop a theory of the dynamical response of a minimal model of quantum spin ice (QSI) by means of inelastic light scattering. In particular, we are interested in the Raman response of the fractionalized U(1) spin liquid realized in the XXZ QSI. We show that the low-energy Raman intensity is dominated by spinon and gauge fluctuations. We find that the Raman response in the QSI state of that model appears only in the $T_{2g}$ polarization channel. We show that the Raman intensity profile displays a broad continuum from the spinons and coupled spinon and gauge fluctuations, and a low-energy peak arising entirely from gauge fluctuations. Both features originate from the exotic interaction between photon and the fractionalized excitations of QSI. Our theoretical results suggest that inelastic Raman scattering can in principle serve as a promising experimental probe of the nature of a U(1) spin liquid in QSI.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

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We explore the properties of the SO(3) Majorana representation of spin. Based on its non-local nature, it is shown that there is an equivalence between the SO(3) Majorana representation and the Jordan-Wigner transformation in one and two dimensions. From the relation between the SO(3) Majorana representation and one-dimensional Jordan-Wigner transformation, we show that application of the SO(3) Majorana representation usually results in Z2 gauge structure. Based on lattice Chern-Simons gauge theory, it is shown that the anti-commuting link variables in the SO(3) Majorana representation make it equivalent to an operator form of compact U(1) 1 Chern-Simons Jordan-Wigner transformation in 2d. As examples of its application, we discuss two spin models, namely the quantum XY model on honeycomb lattice and the 90 • compass model on square lattice. It is shown that under the SO(3) Majorana representation both spin models can be exactly mapped into Z2 gauge theory of spinons, with the standard form of Z2 Gauss law constraint. arXiv:1809.02974v2 [cond-mat.str-el]