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Fractons in curved space
by Akash Jain, Kristan Jensen
This Submission thread is now published as
Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Akash Jain · Kristan Jensen |
| Submission information | |
|---|---|
| Preprint Link: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.03973v2 (pdf) |
| Date accepted: | 2022-04-11 |
| Date submitted: | 2022-02-02 19:52 |
| Submitted by: | Jensen, Kristan |
| Submitted to: | SciPost Physics |
| Ontological classification | |
|---|---|
| Academic field: | Physics |
| Specialties: |
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| Approach: | Theoretical |
Abstract
We consistently couple simple continuum field theories with fracton excitations to curved spacetime backgrounds. We consider homogeneous and isotropic fracton field theories, with a conserved $U(1)$ charge and dipole moment. Coupling to background fields allows us to consistently define a stress-energy tensor for these theories and obtain the respective Ward identities. Along the way, we find evidence for a mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly in the symmetric tensor gauge theory which naturally couples to conserved dipoles. Our results generalise to systems with arbitrarily higher conserved moments, in particular, a conserved quadrupole moment.
Published as SciPost Phys. 12, 142 (2022)
Reports on this Submission
Report #2 by Anonymous (Referee 2) on 2022-4-2 (Invited Report)
- Cite as: Anonymous, Report on arXiv:2111.03973v2, delivered 2022-04-02, doi: 10.21468/SciPost.Report.4845
Strengths
1. The authors develop the formalism to couple fractons to curved space-times
2. The paper provides a first step towards a systematic study of anomalies of fracton theories
Weaknesses
1. The focus is mainly on the formalism without much emphasis of the underlying physical realizations and relevance
2. The main message that fractons cannot be coupled to curved geometries is already known in the community
Report
The paper may be of use to the sub-community of high-energy physicists interested in the formal aspects of higher-rank gauge theories. It meets the formal criteria of SciPost and I recommend it for publication.
Strengths
The paper explores an interesting question in fracton field theories: their couplings to background geometry.
Weaknesses
None
Report
The paper is addressing an interesting problem, and provides some concrete results in this direction. It is worthy of publication.