Radzihovsky Leo, Hermele Michael
Department of Physics and Center for Theory of Quantum Matter, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2020 Feb 7;124(5):050402. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.050402.
Motivated by the prediction of fractonic topological defects in a quantum crystal, we utilize a reformulated elasticity duality to derive a description of a fracton phase in terms of coupled vector U(1) gauge theories. The fracton order and restricted mobility emerge as a result of an unusual Gauss law where electric field lines of one gauge field act as sources of charge for others. At low energies this vector gauge theory reduces to the previously studied fractonic symmetric tensor gauge theory. We construct the corresponding lattice model and a number of generalizations, which realize fracton phases via a condensation of stringlike excitations built out of charged particles, analogous to the p-string condensation mechanism of the gapped X-cube fracton phase.
受量子晶体中分数子拓扑缺陷预测的启发，我们利用重新表述的弹性对偶性，根据耦合矢量U(1)规范理论得出分数子相的描述。分数子序和受限迁移率是由一种不寻常的高斯定律产生的，其中一个规范场的电场线充当其他规范场的电荷源。在低能情况下，这种矢量规范理论简化为先前研究的分数子对称张量规范理论。我们构建了相应的晶格模型及一些推广，它们通过由带电粒子构成的线状激发的凝聚来实现分数子相，这类似于有隙X - 立方分数子相的p - 弦凝聚机制。
