Paramagnetic spin systems with spontaneously broken spatial symmetries, such as valence bond solid (VBS) phases, can host topological defects carrying non-trivial quantum numbers, which enables the paradigm of deconfined quantum criticality. In this work, we study the properties of topological defects in valence plaquette solid (VPS) phases on square and cubic lattices. We show that the defects of the VPS order parameter, in addition to possessing non-trivial quantum numbers, have fracton mobility constraints deep in the VPS phase, which has been overlooked previously. The spinon inside a single vortex cannot move freely in any direction, while a dipolar pair of vortices with spinon pairs can only move perpendicular to its dipole moment. These mobility constraints, while they persist, can potentially inhibit the condensation of vortices and preclude a continuous transition from the VPS to the Néel antiferromagnet. Instead, the VPS melting transition can be driven by proliferation of spinon dipoles. For example, we argue that a $2d$ VPS can melt into a stable gapless phase in the form of an algebraic bond liquid with algebraic correlations and long range entanglement. Such a bond liquid phase yields a concrete example of the elusive $2d$ Bose metal with symmetry fractionalization. We also study $3d$ valence plaquette and valence cube ordered phase, and demonstrate that the topological defects therein also have fractonic dynamics. Possible nearby phases after melting the valence plaquettes or cubes are also discussed.
We consider close-packed tiling models of geometric objects -- a mixture of hardcore dimers and plaquettes -- as a generalisation of the familiar dimer models. Specifically, on an anisotropic cubic lattice, we demand that each site be covered by either a dimer on a z-link or a plaquette in the x-y plane. The space of such fully packed tilings has an extensive degeneracy. This maps onto a fracton-type `higher-rank electrostatics', which can exhibit a plaquette-dimer liquid and an ordered phase. We analyse this theory in detail, using height representations and T-duality to demonstrate that the …
Employing the fracton-elastic duality, we develop a low-energy effective theory of a zero-temperature vortex crystal in a two-dimensional bosonic superfluid which naturally incorporates crystalline topological defects. We extract static interactions between these defects and investigate several continuous quantum transitions triggered by the Higgs condensation of vortex vacancies/interstitials and dislocations. We propose that the quantum melting of the vortex crystal towards the hexatic or smectic phase may occur via a pair of continuous transitions separated by an intermediate vortex superso…
We propose a lattice spin model on a cubic lattice that shares many of the properties of the 3D toric code and the X-cube fracton model. The model, made of Z_3 degrees of freedom at the links, has the vertex, the cube, and the plaquette terms. Being a stabilizer code the ground states are exactly solved. With only the vertex and the cube terms present, we show that the ground state degeneracy (GSD) is 3^(L3+3L-1) where L is the linear dimension of the cubic lattice. In addition to fractons, there are free vertex excitations we call the freeons. With the addition of the plaquette terms, GSD is …
Fractons are particles that cannot move in one or more directions without paying energy proportional to their displacement. Here, we introduce the concept of symmetry enforced fractonicity, in which particles are fractons in the presence of a global symmetry, but are free to move in its absence. A simple example is dislocation defects in a two-dimensional crystal, which are restricted to move only along their Burgers vector due to particle number conservation. Utilizing a recently developed dual rank-2 tensor gauge description of elasticity, we show that accounting for their symmetry enforced …
Proliferation of defects is a mechanism that allows for topological phase transitions. Such a phase transition is found in two dimensions for the XY-model, which lies in the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) universality class. The transition point can be found using renormalization group analysis. We apply renormalization group arguments to determine the nature of BKT transitions for the three-dimensional plaquette-dimer model, which is a model that exhibits fractonic mobility constraints. We show that an important part of this analysis demands a modified dimensional analysis that changes…
Motivated by striped correlated quantum matter, and the recently developed duality between elasticity of a two-dimensional (2D) crystal and a gauge theory, we derive a dual coupled U(1) vector gauge theory for a two-dimensional (2D) quantum smectic, where the disclination is mapped onto the fractonic charge, that we demonstrate can only move transversely to smectic layers. This smectic gauge theory dual also emerges from a gauge dual of a quantum crystal after a Higgs transition corresponding to a single flavor of its dipole condensation, an anisotropic quantum melting via dislocation prolifer…
Fracton phases are recent entrants to the roster of topological phases in three dimensions. They are characterized by subextensively divergent topological degeneracy and excitations that are constrained to move along lower dimensional subspaces, including the eponymous fractons that are immobile in isolation. We develop correlation function diagnostics to characterize Type I fracton phases which build on their exhibiting {\it partial deconfinement}. These are inspired by similar diagnostics from standard gauge theories and utilize a generalized gauging procedure that links fracton phases to cl…
We demonstrate several explicit duality mappings between elasticity of two-dimensional crystals and fracton tensor gauge theories, expanding on recent works by two of the present authors. We begin by dualizing the quantum elasticity theory of an ordinary commensurate crystal, which maps directly onto a fracton tensor gauge theory, in a natural tensor analogue of the conventional particle-vortex duality transformation of a superfluid. The transverse and longitudinal phonons of a crystal map onto the two gapless gauge modes of the tensor gauge theory, while the topological lattice defects map on…
We examine the topological order in the resonating singlet valence plaquette (RSVP) phase of the hard-core quantum plaquette model (QPM) on the face centered cubic (FCC) lattice. To do this, we construct a Rohksar-Kivelson type Hamiltonian of local plaquette resonances. This model is shown to exhibit a $\mathbb{Z}_3$ topological order, which we show by identifying a $\mathbb{Z}_3$ topological constant (which leads to a $3^3$-fold topological ground state degeneracy on the $3$-torus) and topological point-like charge and loop-like magnetic excitations which obey $\mathbb{Z}_3$ statistics. We al…
Finding suitable indicators for characterizing quantum phase transitions plays an important role in understanding different phases of matter. It is especially important for fracton phases where a combination of topology and fractionalization leads to exotic features not seen in other known quantum phases. In this paper, we consider the above problem by studying phase transition in the X-cube model in the presence of a non-linear perturbation. Using an analysis of the ground state fidelity and identifying a discontinuity in the global entanglement, we show there is a first order quantum phase t…
We introduce a quantum spin-1/2 model with many-body correlated Heisenberg-type interactions on the 2D square lattice, designed to host a plaquette valence-bond solid (PVBS) ground state breaking $\mathbb{Z}_4$ symmetry. We carry out a detailed quantum Monte Carlo study of the quantum phase transition between the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and PVBS states. We find a first-order transition, in contrast to previously studied continuous 'deconfined' transitions between the AFM and columnar valence-bond solids. We show that the coexistence state at the AFM--PVBS transition is unexpectedly associated …
Competition between Neel, Haldane nematic, plaquette valence bond solid, and $(π,π)$ valence bond solid phases in SU(N) analogs of $S=1$ square-lattice antiferromagnets
We investigate the rich quantum phase diagram of Wegner's theory of discrete Ising gauge fields interacting with $U(1)$ symmetric single-component fermion matter hopping on a two-dimensional square lattice. In particular limits the model reduces to (i) pure $\mathbb{Z}_2$ even and odd gauge theories, (ii) free fermions in a static background of deconfined $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge fields, (iii) the kinetic Rokhsar-Kivelson quantum dimer model at a generic dimer filling. We develop a local transformation that maps the lattice gauge theory onto a model of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge-invariant spin $1/2$ deg…
We show that doping of hole charge carriers leads to formation of electric dipolar clusters in cuprates. They are created by many-body interactions between the dopant ion outside and holes inside the CuO planes. Because of the two-fold degeneracy holes in the CuO plane cluster into four-particles resonance valence bond plaquettes bound with dopant ions. Such dipoles may order into charge-density waves (CDW) or stripes or form a disordered state depending on doping and temperature. The lowest energy of the ordered system corresponds to a local anti-ferroelectric ordering. The mobility of indivi…
