Abstract
We provide a new perspective on fracton topological phases, a class of three-dimensional topologically ordered phases with unconventional fractionalized excitations that are either completely immobile or only mobile along particular lines or planes. We demonstrate that a wide range of these fracton phases can be constructed by strongly coupling mutually intersecting spin chains and explain via a concrete example how such a coupled-spin-chain construction illuminates the generic properties of a fracton phase. In particular, we describe a systematic translation from each coupled-spin-chain construction into a parton construction where the partons correspond to the excitations that are mobile along lines. Remarkably, our construction of fracton phases is inherently based on spin models involving only two-spin interactions and thus brings us closer to their experimental realization.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 257202 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue number | 25 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 20 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Are supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4304. L.B. was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF DMR1506119. G. B. H. and T. H. H. are supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4304. L. B. was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF DMR1506119.