$\mathbb{Z}_2$ metallic spin liquid on a frustrated Kondo lattice

Abstract: Metallic spin liquid has been reported in several correlated metals, but a satisfactory theoretical description is not yet available. Here we propose a potential route to realize the metallic spin liquid and construct an effective $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory with charged fractionalized excitations on the triangular Kondo lattice. This leads to a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ metallic spin liquid featured with long-lived, heavy holon excitations of spin 0 and charge $+e$ and a partially enlarged electron Fermi surface. It differs from the weak-coupling FL$^*$ state proposed earlier and may be viewed as a fractionalized heavy fermion liquid. Our theory provides a general framework to describe the metallic spin liquid in frustrated Kondo lattice systems.