  The concepts of deconfinement and topological order are of great current
interest for quantum information science and for our understanding of quantum
materials. Here, we introduce a simple model of three antiferromagnetically
coupled Kondo impurities, a Kondo triangle, which can be used to further extend
the application of these concepts to electronic systems. We show that, by
tuning the magnetic frustration, the Kondo triangle undergoes a quantum phase
transition between two phases of unbroken symmetry, signaling a phase
transition beyond the Landau paradigm. We demonstrate that the frustrated spin
liquid phase is described by a three-channel Kondo (3CK) fixed point and thus
displays an irrational ground state degeneracy. Using an Abrikosov
pseudofermion representation, this quantum state is categorized by an emergent
U(1) gauge field and its projective symmetry group. The gauge theory is
deconfining in the sense that a miniature Wilson loop orders and topological
defects (instantons in the gauge field) are expelled. This phase persists in
the presence of moderate Kondo screening until proliferation of topological
defects leads to a quantum phase transition to an unfrustrated Fermi liquid
phase. Based on this evidence, we propose that the 3CK phase displays
topological order in a similar sense as gapless spin liquids.
