SciPost Phys. 16, 068 (2024) ·
published 8 March 2024
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We present a set of generalized quantum loop models that provably exhibit topologically stable ergodicity breaking. These results hold for both periodic and open boundary conditions, and derive from a one-form symmetry (notably not being restricted to sectors of extremal one-form charge). We identify simple models in which this one-form symmetry can be emergent, giving rise to the aforementioned ergodicity breaking as an exponentially long-lived prethermal phenomenon. We unveil a web of dualities that connects these models, in certain limits, to models that have previously been discussed in the literature. We also identify nonlocal conserved quantities in such models, which correspond to patterns of system-spanning domain walls and are robust to the addition of arbitrary $k$-local perturbations.
SciPost Phys. 15, 235 (2023) ·
published 12 December 2023
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Multipole symmetries are of interest in multiple contexts, from the study of fracton phases, to nonergodic quantum dynamics, to the exploration of new hydrodynamic universality classes. However, prior explorations have focused on continuum systems or hypercubic lattices. In this work, we systematically explore multipole symmetries on arbitrary crystal lattices. We explain how, given a crystal structure (specified by a space group and the occupied Wyckoff positions), one may systematically construct all consistent multipole groups. We focus on two-dimensional crystal structures for simplicity, although our methods are general and extend straightforwardly to three dimensions. We classify the possible multipole groups on all two-dimensional Bravais lattices, and on the Kagome and breathing Kagome crystal structures to illustrate the procedure on general crystal lattices. Using Wyckoff positions, we provide an in-principle classification of all possible multipole groups in any space group. We explain how, given a valid multipole group, one may construct a consistent lattice Hamiltonian and a low-energy field theory. We then explore the physical consequences, beginning by generalizing certain results originally obtained on hypercubic lattices to arbitrary crystal structures. Next, we identify two apparently novel phenomena: an emergent, robust subsystem symmetry on the triangular lattice, and an exact multipolar symmetry on the breathing Kagome lattice that does not include conservation of charge (monopole), but instead conserves a vector charge. This makes clear that there is new physics to be found by exploring the consequences of multipolar symmetries on arbitrary lattices, and this work provides the map for the exploration thereof, as well as guiding the search for emergent multipolar symmetries and the attendant exotic phenomena in real materials based on nonhypercubic lattices.
Marvin Qi, Oliver Hart, Aaron J. Friedman, Rahul Nandkishore, Andrew Lucas
SciPost Phys. 14, 029 (2023) ·
published 8 March 2023
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We extend recent work on hydrodynamics with global multipolar symmetries — known as "fracton hydrodynamics" — to systems in which the multipolar symmetries are gauged. We refer to the latter as "fracton magnetohydrodynamics", in analogy to conventional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which governs systems with gauged charge conservation. We show that fracton MHD arises naturally from higher-rank Maxwell's equations and in systems with one-form symmetries obeying certain constraints; while we focus on "minimal" higher-rank generalizations of MHD that realize diffusion, our methods may also be used to identify other, more exotic hydrodynamic theories (e.g., with magnetic subdiffusion). In contrast to semi-microscopic derivations of MHD, our approach elucidates the origin of the hydrodynamic modes by identifying the corresponding higher-form symmetries. Being rooted in symmetries, the hydrodynamic modes may persist even when the semi-microscopic equations no longer provide an accurate description of the system.
Paolo Glorioso, Luca V. Delacrétaz, Xiao Chen, Rahul M. Nandkishore, Andrew Lucas
SciPost Phys. 10, 015 (2021) ·
published 25 January 2021
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We develop a systematic effective field theory of hydrodynamics for many-body systems on the lattice with global continuous non-Abelian symmetries. Models with continuous non-Abelian symmetries are ubiquitous in physics, arising in diverse settings ranging from hot nuclear matter to cold atomic gases and quantum spin chains. In every dimension and for every flavor symmetry group, the low energy theory is a set of coupled noisy diffusion equations. Independence of the physics on the choice of canonical or microcanonical ensemble is manifest in our hydrodynamic expansion, even though the ensemble choice causes an apparent shift in quasinormal mode spectra. We use our formalism to explain why flavor symmetry is qualitatively different from hydrodynamics with other non-Abelian conservation laws, including angular momentum and charge multipoles. As a significant application of our framework, we study spin and energy diffusion in classical one-dimensional SU(2)-invariant spin chains, including the Heisenberg model along with multiple generalizations. We argue based on both numerical simulations and our effective field theory framework that non-integrable spin chains on a lattice exhibit conventional spin diffusion, in contrast to some recent predictions that diffusion constants grow logarithmically at late times. We show that the apparent enhancement of diffusion is due to slow equilibration caused by (non-Abelian) hydrodynamic fluctuations.
