CMSA Condensed Matter/Math Seminar: Coupled layers, p-string condensate, and exactly solvable fracton models

In this talk, I will introduce a class of gapped fracton models, dubbed “cage-net fracton models”.  I will first review the coupled layer construction for exactly solvable fracton models. This construction leads to a general mechanism to obtain cage-net fracton models through a “p-string condensation”, where the extended one-dimensional particle strings built out of pointlike excitations are condensed. This p-string condensation generalizes the concept of anyon condensation in a conventional topological order and allows us to establish the properties of the fracton phase, such as its ground-state wave function, the spectrum and the mobility of excitations. To illustrate the main idea, I will focus on a simple example: doubled-Ising cage-net model. I will show that there are intrinsic non-Abelian excitations with restricted-mobility in this model and they cannot be understood as bound states among two-dimensional non-Abelian anyons and Abelian particles. If time permits, I will discuss another class of exactly solvable fracton models based on a generalization of the twisted gauge theory.

via Zoom Video Conferencing: https://harvard.zoom.us/s/977347126