Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2303.08148 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Rotational symmetry protected edge and corner states in Abelian topological phases

Naren Manjunath, Abhinav Prem, Yuan-Ming Lu

Published May 16, 2023• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Spatial symmetries can enrich the topological classification of interacting quantum matter and endow systems with nontrivial strong topological invariants (protected by internal symmetries) with additional ``weak'' topological indices. In this paper, we study the edge physics of systems with a nontrivial shift invariant, which is protected by either a continuous $\text{U}{(1)}_{r}$ or discrete ${\text{C}}_{n}$ rotation symmetry, along with internal $\text{U}{(1)}_{c}$ charge conservation. Specifically, we construct an interface between two systems that have the same Chern number but are distinguished by their Wen-Zee shift, and, through analytic arguments supported by numerics, we show that the interface hosts counterpropagating gapless edge modes that cannot be gapped by arbitrary local symmetry-preserving perturbations. Using the Chern-Simons field theory description of two-dimensional Abelian topological orders, we then prove sufficient conditions for continuous rotation symmetry protected gapless edge states using two complementary approaches. One relies on the algebraic Lagrangian subalgebra framework for gapped boundaries, while the other uses a more physical flux insertion argument. For the case of discrete rotation symmetries, we extend the field theory approach to show the presence of fractional corner charges for Abelian topological orders with gappable edges, and we compute them in the case in which the Abelian topological order is placed on the two-dimensional surface of a Platonic solid. Our work paves the way for studying the edge physics associated with spatial symmetries in strongly interacting symmetry enriched topological phases.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.107.195130

Related papers

Classification and properties of symmetry-enriched topological phases: Chern-Simons approach with applications to Z2 spin liquids

Yuan-Ming Lu, Ashvin Vishwanath

We study (2+1)-dimensional phases with topological order, such as fractional quantum Hall states and gapped spin liquids, in the presence of global symmetries. Phases that share the same topological order can then differ depending on the action of symmetry, leading to symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases. Here, we present a $K$-matrix Chern-Simons approach to identify distinct phases with Abelian topological order, in the presence of unitary or antiunitary global symmetries. A key step is the identification of a smooth edge sewing condition that is used to check if two putative phases are indeed distinct. We illustrate this method by classifying ${Z}_{2}$ topological order (${Z}_{2}$ spin liquids) in the presence of an internal ${Z}_{2}$ global symmetry for which we find six distinct phases. These include two phases with an unconventional action of symmetry that permutes anyons leading to symmetry-protected Majorana edge modes. Other routes to realizing protected edge states in SET phases are identified. Symmetry-enriched Laughlin states and double-semion theories are also discussed. Somewhat surprisingly, we observe that (i) gauging the global symmetry of distinct SET phases leads to topological orders with the same total quantum dimension, and (ii) a pair of distinct SET phases can yield the same topological order on gauging the symmetry.

arXiv:1302.2634•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Apr 12, 2016•109 citations

Classification of fractional quantum Hall states with spatial symmetries

Naren Manjunath, Maissam Barkeshli

Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states are examples of symmetry-enriched topological states (SETs): in addition to the intrinsic topological order, which is robust to symmetry breaking, they possess symmetry-protected topological invariants, such as fractional charge of anyons and fractional Hall conductivity. In this paper we develop a comprehensive theory of symmetry-protected topological invariants for FQH states with spatial symmetries, which applies to Abelian and non-Abelian topological states, by using a recently developed framework of $G$-crossed braided tensor categories ($G\times$BTCs) for SETs. We consider systems with $U(1)$ charge conservation, magnetic translational, and spatial rotational symmetries, in the continuum and for all $5$ orientation-preserving crystalline space groups in two dimensions, allowing arbitrary rational magnetic flux per unit cell, and assuming that symmetries do not permute anyons. In the crystalline setting, applicable to fractional Chern insulators and spin liquids, symmetry fractionalization is fully characterized by a generalization to non-Abelian states of the charge, spin, discrete torsion, and area vectors, which specify fractional charge, angular momentum, linear momentum, and fractionalization of the translation algebra for each anyon. The topological response theory contains $9$ terms, which attach charge, linear momentum, and angular momentum to magnetic flux, lattice dislocations, disclinations, corners, and units of area. Using the $G\times$BTC formalism, we derive the formula relating charge filling to the Hall conductivity and flux per unit cell; in the continuum this relates the filling fraction and the Hall conductivity without assuming Galilean invariance. We provide systematic formulas for topological invariants within the $G\times$BTC framework; this gives, for example, a new categorical definition of the Hall conductivity.

arXiv:2012.11603•Dec 21, 2020•14 citations

Non-Invertible Interfaces Between Symmetry-Enriched Critical Phases

Saranesh Prembabu, Shu-Heng Shao, Ruben Verresen

Gapless quantum phases can become distinct when internal symmetries are enforced, in analogy with gapped symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. However, this distinction does not always lead to protected edge modes, raising the question of how the bulk-boundary correspondence is generalized to gapless cases. We propose that the spatial interface between gapless phases -- rather than their boundaries -- provides a more robust fingerprint. We show that whenever two 1+1d conformal field theories (CFTs) differ in symmetry charge assignments of local operators or twisted sectors, any symmetry-preserving spatial interface between the theories must flow to a non-invertible defect. We illustrate this general result for different versions of the Ising CFT with $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2^T$ symmetry, obtaining a complete classification of allowed conformal interfaces. When the Ising CFTs differ by nonlocal operator charges, the interface hosts 0+1d symmetry-breaking phases with finite-size splittings scaling as $1/L^3$, as well as continuous phase transitions between them. For general gapless phases differing by an SPT entangler, the interfaces between them can be mapped to conformal defects with a certain defect 't Hooft anomaly. This classification also gives implications for higher-dimensional examples, including symmetry-enriched variants of the 2+1d Ising CFT. Our results establish a physical indicator for symmetry-enriched criticality through symmetry-protected interfaces, giving a new handle on the interplay between topology and gapless phases.

cond-mat.str-elCross-listedarXiv:2512.23706•Dec 30, 2025•0 citations

Extrinsic geometry and gappable edges in rotationally invariant topological phases

Sounak Sinha, Barry Bradlyn

Recent work on Abelian topological phases with rotational symmetry has raised the question of whether rotational symmetry can protect gapless propagating edge modes. Here we address this issue by considering the coupling of topological phases to the extrinsic geometry of the background. First, we analyze an effective hydrodynamic theory for an Abelian topological phase with vanishing Hall conductance. After integrating out the bulk hydrodynamic degrees of freedom, we identify charge neutral, rotationally invariant-mass terms by coupling the propagating boundary modes to the extrinsic geometry. This allows us to integrate out the edge modes and we find a gapped theory described by a local induced action that depends on the extrinsic geometry of the boundary, regardless of the shift. Finally, we apply these ideas to a microscopic theory and find the explicit bulk terms which respect gauge and rotational symmetry and open a gap in the edge spectrum.

arXiv:2503.14267•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 12, 2025•0 citations

Edge theories of two-dimensional fermionic symmetry protected topological phases protected by unitary Abelian symmetries

Shang-Qiang Ning, Chenjie Wang, Qing-Rui Wang +1 more

Abelian Chern-Simons theory, characterized by the so-called $K$ matrix, has been quite successful in characterizing and classifying Abelian fractional quantum Hall effect as well as symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, especially for bosonic SPT phases. However, there are still some puzzles in dealing with fermionic SPT (fSPT) phases. In this paper, we utilize the Abelian Chern-Simons theory to study the fSPT phases protected by arbitrary Abelian total symmetry ${G}_{f}$. Comparing to the bosonic SPT phases, fSPT phases with Abelian total symmetry ${G}_{f}$ have three new features: (1) they may support gapless Majorana fermion edge modes, (2) some nontrivial bosonic SPT phases may be trivialized if ${G}_{f}$ is a nontrivial extension of bosonic symmetry ${G}_{b}$ by ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}^{f}$, and (3) certain intrinsic fSPT phases can only be realized in interacting fermionic system. We obtain edge theories for various fSPT phases, which can also be regarded as conformal field theories with proper symmetry anomaly. In particular, we discover the construction of Luttinger liquid edge theories with central charge $n\ensuremath{-}1$ for type-III bosonic SPT phases protected by ${({\mathbb{Z}}_{n})}^{3}$ symmetry and the Luttinger liquid edge theories for intrinsically interacting fSPT protected by unitary Abelian symmetry. The ideas and methods used in these examples could be generalized to derive the edge theories of fSPT phases with arbitrary unitary Abelian total symmetry ${G}_{f}$.

arXiv:1910.02925•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Aug 26, 2021•10 citations

Gapless Topological Phases and Symmetry-Enriched Quantum Criticality

Ruben Verresen, Ryan Thorngren, Nick G. Jones +1 more

We introduce topological invariants for gapless systems and study the associated boundary phenomena.More generally, the symmetry properties of the low-energy conformal field theory (CFT) provide discrete invariants establishing the notion of symmetry-enriched quantum criticality.The charges of nonlocal scaling operators, or more generally, of symmetry defects, are topological and imply the presence of localized edge modes.We primarily focus on the 1 þ 1d case where the edge has a topological degeneracy, whose finite-size splitting can be exponential or algebraic in system size depending on the involvement of additional gapped sectors.An example of the exponential case is given by tuning the spin-1 Heisenberg chain to a symmetry-breaking Ising phase.An example of the algebraic case arises between the gapped Ising and cluster phases: This symmetry-enriched Ising CFT has an edge mode with finite-size splitting scaling as 1=L 14 .In addition to such new cases, our formalism unifies various examples previously studied in the literature.Similar to gapped symmetry-protected topological phases, a given CFT can split into several distinct symmetry-enriched CFTs.This raises the question of classification, to which we give a partial answer-including a complete characterization of symmetry-enriched 1 þ 1d Ising CFTs.Nontrivial topological invariants can also be constructed in higher dimensions, which we illustrate for a symmetry-enriched 2 þ 1d CFT without gapped sectors.

arXiv:1905.06969•Physical Review X•Dec 23, 2021•149 citations
Spatial symmetries can enrich the topological classification of interacting quantum matter and endow systems with nontrivial strong topological invariants (protected by internal symmetries) with additional ``weak'' topological indices. In this paper, we study the edge physics of systems with a nontrivial shift invariant, which is protected by either a continuous U(1)r\text{U}{(1)}_{r}U(1)r​ or discrete Cn{\text{C}}_{n}Cn​ rotation symmetry, along with internal U(1)c\text{U}{(1)}_{c}U(1)c​ charge conservation. Specifically, we construct an interface between two systems that have the same Chern number but are distinguished by their Wen-Zee shift, and, through analytic arguments supported by numerics, we show that the interface hosts counterpropagating gapless edge modes that cannot be gapped by arbitrary local symmetry-preserving perturbations. Using the Chern-Simons field theory description of two-dimensional Abelian topological orders, we then prove sufficient conditions for continuous rotation symmetry protected gapless edge states using two complementary approaches. One relies on the algebraic Lagrangian subalgebra framework for gapped boundaries, while the other uses a more physical flux insertion argument. For the case of discrete rotation symmetries, we extend the field theory approach to show the presence of fractional corner charges for Abelian topological orders with gappable edges, and we compute them in the case in which the Abelian topological order is placed on the two-dimensional surface of a Platonic solid. Our work paves the way for studying the edge physics associated with spatial symmetries in strongly interacting symmetry enriched topological phases.
We study (2+1)-dimensional phases with topological order, such as fractional quantum Hall states and gapped spin liquids, in the presence of global symmetries. Phases that share the same topological order can then differ depending on the action of symmetry, leading to symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases. Here, we present a KKK-matrix Chern-Simons approach to identify distinct phases with Abelian topological order, in the presence of unitary or antiunitary global symmetries. A key step is the identification of a smooth edge sewing condition that is used to check if two putative phases are indeed distinct. We illustrate this method by classifying Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ topological order (Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ spin liquids) in the presence of an internal Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ global symmetry for which we find six distinct phases. These include two phases with an unconventional action of symmetry that permutes anyons leading to symmetry-protected Majorana edge modes. Other routes to realizing protected edge states in SET phases are identified. Symmetry-enriched Laughlin states and double-semion theories are also discussed. Somewhat surprisingly, we observe that (i) gauging the global symmetry of distinct SET phases leads to topological orders with the same total quantum dimension, and (ii) a pair of distinct SET phases can yield the same topological order on gauging the symmetry.
Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states are examples of symmetry-enriched topological states (SETs): in addition to the intrinsic topological order, which is robust to symmetry breaking, they possess symmetry-protected topological invariants, such as fractional charge of anyons and fractional Hall conductivity. In this paper we develop a comprehensive theory of symmetry-protected topological invariants for FQH states with spatial symmetries, which applies to Abelian and non-Abelian topological states, by using a recently developed framework of GGG-crossed braided tensor categories (G×G\timesG×BTCs) for SETs. We consider systems with U(1)U(1)U(1) charge conservation, magnetic translational, and spatial rotational symmetries, in the continuum and for all 555 orientation-preserving crystalline space groups in two dimensions, allowing arbitrary rational magnetic flux per unit cell, and assuming that symmetries do not permute anyons. In the crystalline setting, applicable to fractional Chern insulators and spin liquids, symmetry fractionalization is fully characterized by a generalization to non-Abelian states of the charge, spin, discrete torsion, and area vectors, which specify fractional charge, angular momentum, linear momentum, and fractionalization of the translation algebra for each anyon. The topological response theory contains 999 terms, which attach charge, linear momentum, and angular momentum to magnetic flux, lattice dislocations, disclinations, corners, and units of area. Using the G×G\timesG×BTC formalism, we derive the formula relating charge filling to the Hall conductivity and flux per unit cell; in the continuum this relates the filling fraction and the Hall conductivity without assuming Galilean invariance. We provide systematic formulas for topological invariants within the G×G\timesG×BTC framework; this gives, for example, a new categorical definition of the Hall conductivity.
Gapless quantum phases can become distinct when internal symmetries are enforced, in analogy with gapped symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. However, this distinction does not always lead to protected edge modes, raising the question of how the bulk-boundary correspondence is generalized to gapless cases. We propose that the spatial interface between gapless phases -- rather than their boundaries -- provides a more robust fingerprint. We show that whenever two 1+1d conformal field theories (CFTs) differ in symmetry charge assignments of local operators or twisted sectors, any symmetry-preserving spatial interface between the theories must flow to a non-invertible defect. We illustrate this general result for different versions of the Ising CFT with Z2×Z2T\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2^TZ2​×Z2T​ symmetry, obtaining a complete classification of allowed conformal interfaces. When the Ising CFTs differ by nonlocal operator charges, the interface hosts 0+1d symmetry-breaking phases with finite-size splittings scaling as 1/L31/L^31/L3, as well as continuous phase transitions between them. For general gapless phases differing by an SPT entangler, the interfaces between them can be mapped to conformal defects with a certain defect 't Hooft anomaly. This classification also gives implications for higher-dimensional examples, including symmetry-enriched variants of the 2+1d Ising CFT. Our results establish a physical indicator for symmetry-enriched criticality through symmetry-protected interfaces, giving a new handle on the interplay between topology and gapless phases.
Recent work on Abelian topological phases with rotational symmetry has raised the question of whether rotational symmetry can protect gapless propagating edge modes. Here we address this issue by considering the coupling of topological phases to the extrinsic geometry of the background. First, we analyze an effective hydrodynamic theory for an Abelian topological phase with vanishing Hall conductance. After integrating out the bulk hydrodynamic degrees of freedom, we identify charge neutral, rotationally invariant-mass terms by coupling the propagating boundary modes to the extrinsic geometry. This allows us to integrate out the edge modes and we find a gapped theory described by a local induced action that depends on the extrinsic geometry of the boundary, regardless of the shift. Finally, we apply these ideas to a microscopic theory and find the explicit bulk terms which respect gauge and rotational symmetry and open a gap in the edge spectrum.
Abelian Chern-Simons theory, characterized by the so-called KKK matrix, has been quite successful in characterizing and classifying Abelian fractional quantum Hall effect as well as symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, especially for bosonic SPT phases. However, there are still some puzzles in dealing with fermionic SPT (fSPT) phases. In this paper, we utilize the Abelian Chern-Simons theory to study the fSPT phases protected by arbitrary Abelian total symmetry Gf{G}_{f}Gf​. Comparing to the bosonic SPT phases, fSPT phases with Abelian total symmetry Gf{G}_{f}Gf​ have three new features: (1) they may support gapless Majorana fermion edge modes, (2) some nontrivial bosonic SPT phases may be trivialized if Gf{G}_{f}Gf​ is a nontrivial extension of bosonic symmetry Gb{G}_{b}Gb​ by Z2f{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}^{f}Z2f​, and (3) certain intrinsic fSPT phases can only be realized in interacting fermionic system. We obtain edge theories for various fSPT phases, which can also be regarded as conformal field theories with proper symmetry anomaly. In particular, we discover the construction of Luttinger liquid edge theories with central charge $n\ensuremath{-}1$ for type-III bosonic SPT phases protected by (Zn)3{({\mathbb{Z}}_{n})}^{3}(Zn​)3 symmetry and the Luttinger liquid edge theories for intrinsically interacting fSPT protected by unitary Abelian symmetry. The ideas and methods used in these examples could be generalized to derive the edge theories of fSPT phases with arbitrary unitary Abelian total symmetry Gf{G}_{f}Gf​.
We introduce topological invariants for gapless systems and study the associated boundary phenomena.More generally, the symmetry properties of the low-energy conformal field theory (CFT) provide discrete invariants establishing the notion of symmetry-enriched quantum criticality.The charges of nonlocal scaling operators, or more generally, of symmetry defects, are topological and imply the presence of localized edge modes.We primarily focus on the 1 þ 1d case where the edge has a topological degeneracy, whose finite-size splitting can be exponential or algebraic in system size depending on the involvement of additional gapped sectors.An example of the exponential case is given by tuning the spin-1 Heisenberg chain to a symmetry-breaking Ising phase.An example of the algebraic case arises between the gapped Ising and cluster phases: This symmetry-enriched Ising CFT has an edge mode with finite-size splitting scaling as 1=L 14 .In addition to such new cases, our formalism unifies various examples previously studied in the literature.Similar to gapped symmetry-protected topological phases, a given CFT can split into several distinct symmetry-enriched CFTs.This raises the question of classification, to which we give a partial answer-including a complete characterization of symmetry-enriched 1 þ 1d Ising CFTs.Nontrivial topological invariants can also be constructed in higher dimensions, which we illustrate for a symmetry-enriched 2 þ 1d CFT without gapped sectors.