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arXiv · 1707.02308

Fracton topological phases from strongly coupled spin chains

Gábor B. Halász·Timothy H. Hsieh·Leon Balents
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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.

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Gábor B. Halász, Timothy H. Hsieh, Leon Balents. 2018-01-19. Fracton topological phases from strongly coupled spin chains. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.119.257202

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