We study the gauging of a global U(1) symmetry in a gapped system in (2+1)d. The gauging procedure has been well-understood for a finite global symmetry group, which leads to a new gapped phase with emergent gauge structure and can be described algebraically using the mathematical framework of modular tensor category (MTC). We develop a categorical description of U(1) gauging in an MTC, taking into account the dynamics of U(1) gauge field absent in the finite group case. When the ungauged system has a non-zero Hall conductance, the gauged theory remains gapped and we determine the complete set of anyon data for the gauged theory. On the other hand, when the Hall conductance vanishes, we argue that gauging has the same effect of condensing a special Abelian anyon nucleated by inserting $2π$ U(1) flux. We apply our procedure to the SU(2)$_k$ MTCs and derive the full MTC data for the $\mathbb{Z}_k$ parafermion MTCs. We also discuss a dual U(1) symmetry that emerges after the original U(1) symmetry of an MTC is gauged.
Gauging Modulated Symmetries via Multiple Gauge Symmetry Operators and Adaptive Quantum Circuits
Sungkyunkwan University（成均馆大学）；Institute of Basic Science, Sungkyunkwan University（成均馆大学基础科学研究院）；University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）
There and Back Again: A Gauging Nexus between Topological and Fracton Phases
University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）；Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University（冲绳科学技术大学院大学）；Bard College（巴德学院）；Institute for Advanced Study（高等研究院）；Stony Brook University（石溪大学）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；The University of Sydney（悉尼大学）
To study gapped phases of $4$d gauge theories, we introduce the temporal gauging of $\mathbb{Z}_N$ $1$-form symmetry in $4$d quantum field theories (QFTs), thereby defining effective $3$d QFTs with $\widetilde{\mathbb{Z}}_N\times \mathbb{Z}_N$ $1$-form symmetry. In this way, spatial fundamental Wilson and 't Hooft loops are simultaneously genuine line operators. Assuming a mass gap and Lorentz invariant vacuum of the $4$d QFT, the $\widetilde{\mathbb{Z}}_N\times \mathbb{Z}_N$ symmetry must be spontaneously broken to an order-$N$ subgroup $H$, and we can classify the $4$d gapped phases by speci…
We study in general spacetime dimension the symmetry of the theory obtained by gauging a non-anomalous finite normal Abelian subgroup $A$ of a $Γ$-symmetric theory. Depending on how anomalous $Γ$ is, we find that the symmetry of the gauged theory can be i) a direct product of $G=Γ/A$ and a higher-form symmetry $\hat A$ with a mixed anomaly, where $\hat A$ is the Pontryagin dual of $A$; ii) an extension of the ordinary symmetry group $G$ by the higher-form symmetry $\hat A$; iii) or even more esoteric types of symmetries which are no longer groups. We also discuss the relations to the effect ca…
Topological phases in (2+1)-dimensions are frequently equipped with global symmetries, like conjugation, bilayer or electric-magnetic duality, that relabel anyons without affecting the topological structures. Twist defects are static point-like objects that permute the labels of orbiting anyons. Gauging these symmetries by quantizing defects into dynamical excitations leads to a wide class of more exotic topological phases referred as twist liquids, which are generically non-Abelian. We formulate a general gauging framework, characterize the anyon structure of twist liquids and provide solvabl…
Topological phases of matter in (2+1) dimensions are commonly equipped with global symmetries, such as electric-magnetic duality in gauge theories and bilayer symmetry in fractional quantum Hall states. Gauging these symmetries into local dynamical ones is one way of obtaining exotic phases from conventional systems. We study this using the bulk-boundary correspondence and applying the orbifold construction to the (1+1) dimensional edge described by a conformal field theory (CFT). Our procedure puts twisted boundary conditions into the partition function, and predicts the fusion, spin and brai…
We discuss several bosonic topological phases in (3+1) dimensions enriched by a global $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry, and gauging the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. More specifically, following the spirit of the bulk-boundary correspondence, expected to hold in topological phases of matter in general, we consider boundary (surface) field theories and their orbifold. From the surface partition functions, we extract the modular $\mathcal{S}$ and $\mathcal{T}$ matrices and compare them with $(2+1)$d toplogical phase after dimensional reduction. As a specific example, we discuss topologically ordered phases i…
We study 3d and 4d systems with a one-form global symmetry, explore their consequences, and analyze their gauging. For simplicity, we focus on $\mathbb{Z}_N$ one-form symmetries. A 3d topological quantum field theory (TQFT) $\mathcal{T}$ with such a symmetry has $N$ special lines that generate it. The braiding of these lines and their spins are characterized by a single integer $p$ modulo $2N$. Surprisingly, if $\gcd(N,p)=1$ the TQFT factorizes $\mathcal{T}=\mathcal{T}'\otimes \mathcal{A}^{N,p}$. Here $\mathcal{T}'$ is a decoupled TQFT, whose lines are neutral under the global symmetry and $\m…
It is well known that unitary symmetries can be `gauged', i.e. defined to act in a local way, which leads to a corresponding gauge field. Gauging, for example, the charge conservation symmetry leads to electromagnetic gauge fields. It is an open question whether an analogous process is possible for time reversal which is an anti-unitary symmetry. Here we discuss a route to gauging time reversal symmetry which applies to gapped quantum ground states that admit a tensor network representation. The tensor network representation of quantum states provides a notion of locality for the wave function…
Gauging a global symmetry of a system amounts to introducing new degrees of freedom whose transformation rule makes the overall system observe a local symmetry. In quantum systems there can be obstructions to gauging a global symmetry. When this happens the symmetry is dubbed anomalous. Such obstructions are related to the fact that the global symmetry cannot be written as a tensor product of local operators. In this manuscript we study non-local symmetries that have an additional structure: they take the form of a matrix product operator (MPO). We exploit the tensor network structure of the M…
Gauging in superconductors and other electronic systems
Karlstad University（卡尔斯特德大学）；Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University（诺迪塔，皇家理工学院和斯德哥尔摩大学）；INFN, Sezione di Firenze（意大利国家核物理研究所佛罗伦萨分部）
In this paper, we explore the interplay between symmetry and fracton order, motivated by the analogous close relationship for topologically ordered systems. Specifically, we consider models with 3D planar subsystem symmetry, and show that these can realize subsystem symmetry protected topological phases with gapless boundary modes. Gauging the planar subsystem symmetry leads to a fracton order in which particles restricted to move along lines exhibit a new type of statistical interaction that is specific to the lattice geometry. We show that both the gapless boundary modes of the ungauged theo…
With a view toward a fracton theory in condensed matter, we introduce a higher-moment polynomial degree-p global symmetry, acting on complex scalar/vector/tensor fields (e.g., ordinary or vector global symmetry for p$=0$ and p$=1$ respectively). We relate this higher-moment global symmetry of $n$-dimensional space, to a lower degree (either ordinary or higher-moment, e.g., degree-(p-$\ell$)) subdimensional or subsystem global symmetry on layers of $(n-\ell)$-submanifolds. These submanifolds are algebraic affine varieties (i.e., solutions of polynomials). The structure of layers of submanifolds…
We analyze $2+1d$ and $3+1d$ Bosonic Symmetry Protected Topological (SPT) phases of matter protected by onsite symmetry group $G$ by using dual bulk and boundary approaches. In the bulk we study an effective field theory which upon coupling to a background flat $G$ gauge field furnishes a purely topological response theory. The response action evaluated on certain manifolds, with appropriate choice of background gauge field, defines a set of SPT topological invariants. Further, SPTs can be gauged by summing over all isomorphism classes of flat $G$ gauge fields to obtain Dijkgraaf-Witten topolo…
We gauge the fermion parity symmetry of the Kitaev chain. While the bulk of the model becomes an Ising chain of gauge-invariant spins in a tilted field, near the boundaries the global fermion parity symmetry survives gauging, leading to local gauge-invariant Majorana operators. In the absence of vortices, the Higgs phase exhibits fermionic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order distinct from the Kitaev chain. Moreover, the deconfined phase can be stable even in the presence of vortices. We also undertake a comprehensive study of a gently gauged model which interpolates between the ordinary…
Boundary theories of static bulk topological phases of matter are obstructed in the sense that they cannot be realized on their own as isolated systems. The obstruction can be quantified/characterized by quantum anomalies, in particular when there is a global symmetry. Similarly, topological Floquet evolutions can realize obstructed unitary operators at their boundaries. In this paper, we discuss the characterization of such obstructions by using quantum anomalies. As a particular example, we discuss time-reversal symmetric boundary unitary operators in one and two spatial dimensions, where th…
Projected entangled pair states (PEPS) provide a natural ansatz for the ground states of gapped, local Hamiltonians in which global characteristics of a quantum state are encoded in properties of local tensors. We develop a framework to describe on-site symmetries, as occurring in systems exhibiting symmetry-protected topological (SPT) quantum order, in terms of virtual symmetries of the local tensors expressed as a set of matrix product operators (MPOs) labeled by distinct group elements. These MPOs describe the possibly anomalous symmetry of the edge theory, whose local degrees of freedom ar…
Based on several previous examples, we summarize explicitly the general procedure to gauge models with subsystem symmetries, which are symmetries with generators that have support within a sub-manifold of the system. The gauging process can be applied to any local quantum model on a lattice that is invariant under the subsystem symmetry. We focus primarily on simple 3D paramagnetic states with planar symmetries. For these systems, the gauged theory may exhibit foliated fracton order and we find that the species of symmetry charges in the paramagnet directly determine the resulting foliated fra…
We demonstrate a general gauging procedure of a pure matter theory on a lattice with a mixture of subsystem and global symmetries. This mixed symmetry can be either a semidirect product of a subsystem symmetry and a global symmetry, or a non-trivial extension of them. We demonstrate this gauging procedure on a cubic lattice in three dimensions with four examples: $G=\mathbb{Z}_3^{\text{sub}} \rtimes \mathbb{Z}_2^{\text{glo}}$, $G=(\mathbb{Z}_2^{\text{sub}} \times \mathbb{Z}_2^{\text{sub}}) \rtimes \mathbb{Z}_2^{\text{glo}}$, $1\to \mathbb {Z}_2^\text {sub}\to G\to \mathbb {Z}_2^\text {glo}\to …
Symmetry protected quantum many body scars through half-gauging
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University（冲绳科学技术大学院大学）；National Tsing Hua University（国立清华大学）；National Center for Theoretical Sciences（国家理论科学中心）；Academia Sinica（中央研究院）
We put the theory of interacting topological crystalline phases on a systematic footing. These are topological phases protected by space-group symmetries. Our central tool is an elucidation of what it means to "gauge" such symmetries. We introduce the notion of a "crystalline topological liquid", and argue that most (and perhaps all) phases of interest are likely to satisfy this criterion. We prove a Crystalline Equivalence Principle, which states that in Euclidean space, crystalline topological liquids with symmetry group $G$ are in one-to-one correspondence with topological phases protected …
Symmetry defects and gauging for quantum states with matrix product unitary symmetries
Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik（马克斯·普朗克量子光学研究所）；Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology（慕尼黑量子科学与技术中心）；University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics（维也纳大学物理学院）
