Fractons from covariant higher-rank 3D BF theory

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bertolini, Erica, Blasi, Alberto, Carrega, Matteo, Maggiore, Nicola, Shaikh, Daniel Sacco
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Bertolini, Erica
Blasi, Alberto
Carrega, Matteo
Maggiore, Nicola
Shaikh, Daniel Sacco
author_facet Bertolini, Erica
Blasi, Alberto
Carrega, Matteo
Maggiore, Nicola
Shaikh, Daniel Sacco
contents In this paper we study the 3D gauge theory of two tensor gauge fields: $a_{μν}(x)$, which we take symmetric, and $B_{μν}(x)$, with no symmetry on its indices. The corresponding invariant action is a higher-rank BF-like model, which is first considered from a purely field theoretical point of view, and the propagators with their poles and the degrees of freedom are studied. Once matter is introduced, a fracton behaviour naturally emerges. We show that our theory can be mapped to the low-energy effective field theory describing the Rank-2 Toric Code (R2TC). This relation between our covariant BF-like theory and the R2TC is a higher-rank generalization of the equivalence between the ordinary 3D BF theory and the Kitaev's Toric Code. In the last part of the paper we analyze the case in which the field $B_{μν}(x)$ is a symmetric tensor. It turns out that the obtained BF-like action can be cast into the sum of two rank-2 Chern-Simons actions, thus generalizing the ordinary abelian case. Therefore, this represents a higher-rank generalization of the ordinary 3D BF theory, which well describes the low-energy physics of quantum spin Hall insulators in two spatial dimensions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_19154
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fractons from covariant higher-rank 3D BF theory
Bertolini, Erica
Blasi, Alberto
Carrega, Matteo
Maggiore, Nicola
Shaikh, Daniel Sacco
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
In this paper we study the 3D gauge theory of two tensor gauge fields: $a_{μν}(x)$, which we take symmetric, and $B_{μν}(x)$, with no symmetry on its indices. The corresponding invariant action is a higher-rank BF-like model, which is first considered from a purely field theoretical point of view, and the propagators with their poles and the degrees of freedom are studied. Once matter is introduced, a fracton behaviour naturally emerges. We show that our theory can be mapped to the low-energy effective field theory describing the Rank-2 Toric Code (R2TC). This relation between our covariant BF-like theory and the R2TC is a higher-rank generalization of the equivalence between the ordinary 3D BF theory and the Kitaev's Toric Code. In the last part of the paper we analyze the case in which the field $B_{μν}(x)$ is a symmetric tensor. It turns out that the obtained BF-like action can be cast into the sum of two rank-2 Chern-Simons actions, thus generalizing the ordinary abelian case. Therefore, this represents a higher-rank generalization of the ordinary 3D BF theory, which well describes the low-energy physics of quantum spin Hall insulators in two spatial dimensions.
title Fractons from covariant higher-rank 3D BF theory
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.19154