  We describe a coupled-chain construction for chiral spin liquids in
two-dimensional spin systems. Starting from a one-dimensional zigzag spin chain
and imposing SU(2) symmetry in the framework of non-Abelian bosonization, we
first show that our approach faithfully describes the low-energy physics of an
exactly solvable model with a three-spin interaction. Generalizing the
construction to the two-dimensional case, we obtain a theory that incorporates
the universal properties of the chiral spin liquid predicted by Kalmeyer and
Laughlin: charge-neutral edge states, gapped spin-1/2 bulk excitations, and
ground state degeneracy on the torus signalling the topological order of this
quantum state. In addition, we show that the chiral spin liquid phase is more
easily stabilized in frustrated lattices containing corner-sharing triangles,
such as the extended kagome lattice, than in the triangular lattice. Our field
theoretical approach invites generalizations to more exotic chiral spin liquids
and may be used to assess the existence of the chiral spin liquid as the ground
state of specific lattice systems.
