Symmetry provides powerful non-perturbative constraints in quantum many-body systems. A prominent example is the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) anomaly -- a mixed 't Hooft anomaly between internal and translational symmetries that forbids a trivial symmetric gapped phase. In this work, we investigate lattice translation operators in systems with an LSM anomaly. We construct explicit lattice models in two and three spatial dimensions and show that, after gauging the full internal symmetry, translation becomes non-invertible and fuses into defects of the internal symmetry. The result is supported by the anomaly-inflow in view of topological field theory. Our work extends earlier one-dimensional observations to a unified higher-dimensional framework and clarifies their origin in mixed anomalies and higher-group structures, highlighting a coherent interplay between internal and crystalline symmetries.
Symmetry provides powerful non-perturbative constraints in quantum many-body systems. A prominent example is the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) anomaly -- a mixed 't Hooft anomaly between internal and translational symmetries that forbids a trivial symmetric gapped phase. In this work, we investigate lattice translation operators in systems with an LSM anomaly. We construct explicit lattice models in two and three spatial dimensions and show that, after gauging the full internal symmetry, translation becomes non-invertible and fuses into defects of the internal symmetry. The result is supported by the anomaly-inflow in view of topological field theory. Our work extends earlier one-dimensional observations to a unified higher-dimensional framework and clarifies their origin in mixed anomalies and higher-group structures, highlighting a coherent interplay between internal and crystalline symmetries.
Symmetries rigidly delimit the landscape of quantum matter. Recently uncovered spatially modulated symmetries, whose actions vary with position, enable excitations with restricted mobility, while Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) type anomalies impose sharp constraints on which lattice phases are realizable. In a one-dimensional spin chain, gauging procedures have linked modulated symmetry to LSM type anomaly, but a general understanding beyond 1D remains incomplete. We show that generalized LSM anomalies force the emergence of the modulated symmetries upon gauging. We construct explicit lattice models in two and three spatial dimensions and develop complementary field-theoretic descriptions in arbitrary spatial dimensions that connect LSM anomaly inflow to higher-group symmetry structures governing the modulated symmetries. Our results provide a unified, nonperturbative framework that ties together LSM constraints and spatially modulated symmetries across dimensions.
Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorems impose non-perturbative constraints on the zero-temperature phase diagrams of quantum lattice Hamiltonians (always assumed to be local in this paper). LSM theorems have recently been interpreted as the lattice counterparts to mixed ’t Hooft anomalies in quantum field theories that arise from a combination of crystalline and global internal symmetry groups. Accordingly, LSM theorems have been reinterpreted as LSM anomalies. In this work, we provide a systematic diagnostic for LSM anomalies in one spatial dimension. We show that gauging subgroups of the global internal symmetry group of a quantum lattice model obeying an LSM anomaly delivers a dual quantum lattice Hamiltonian such that its internal and crystalline symmetries mix non-trivially through a group extension. This mixing of crystalline and internal symmetries after gauging is a direct consequence of the LSM anomaly, i.e., it can be used as a diagnostic of an LSM anomaly. We exemplify this procedure for a quantum spin-1/2 chain obeying an LSM anomaly resulting from combining a global internal \mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{2}×\mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{2} ℤ 2 × ℤ 2 symmetry with translation or reflection symmetry. We establish a triality of models by gauging a \mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{2}\subset\mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{2}×\mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{2} ℤ 2 ⊂ ℤ 2 × ℤ 2 symmetry in two ways, one of which amounts to performing a Kramers-Wannier duality, while the other implements a Jordan-Wigner duality. We discuss the mapping of the phase diagram of the quantum spin-1/2 XYZ X Y Z chains under such a triality. We show that the deconfined quantum critical transitions between Neel and dimer orders are mapped to either topological or conventional Landau-Ginzburg transitions. Finally, we extend our results to \mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{n} ℤ n clock models with \mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{n}×\mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{n} ℤ n × ℤ n global internal symmetry, and provide a reinterpretation of the dual internal symmetries in terms of \mathbb{Z}^{\,}_{n} ℤ n charge and dipole symmetries.
't Hooft anomalies impose fundamental constraints on quantum matter and often lead to emergent symmetry structures upon gauging. We analyze a lattice model with four global symmetries realizing a mixed anomaly described by ∼a1∧a2∧a3∧a4, where the ai denote background gauge fields for the global symmetries. Through explicit lattice gauging, we demonstrate the emergence of higher symmetry structures, including 2-group, non-invertible, and higher fusion categorical symmetries. We also provide a field-theoretical understanding of these results. Applying this framework to systems with Lieb-Schultz-Mattis anomalies, obtained by promoting part of the internal symmetries to translational symmetries, we demonstrate that modulated (dipole) symmetries arise as direct counterparts of those in systems with purely internal typeIV anomalies. Importantly, we uncover a qualitatively new feature absent in previously studied modulated symmetries: their realization can become intrinsically defect-dependent. In particular, the emergent symmetry structure changes depending on whether symmetry defects are present. This work establishes a concrete lattice realization of mixed anomalies and reveals a rich structure of emergent symmetries, thereby clarifying their role in constraining quantum phases of matter.
The Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem dictates that emergent low-energy states from a lattice model cannot be a trivial symmetric insulator if the filling per unit cell is not integral and if the lattice translation symmetry and particle number conservation are strictly imposed. In this paper, we compare the one-dimensional gapless states enforced by the LSM theorem and the boundaries of one-higher dimensional strong symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases from the perspective of quantum anomalies. We first note that they can both be described by the same low-energy effective field theory with the same effective symmetry realizations on low-energy modes, wherein non-on-site lattice translation symmetry is encoded as if it were an internal symmetry. In spite of the identical form of the low-energy effective field theories, we show that the quantum anomalies of the theories play different roles in the two systems. In particular, we find that the chiral anomaly is equivalent to the LSM theorem, whereas there is another anomaly that is not related to the LSM theorem but is intrinsic to the SPT states. As an application, we extend the conventional LSM theorem to multiple-charge multiple-species problems and construct several exotic symmetric insulators. We also find that the (3+1)d chiral anomaly provides only the perturbative stability of the gaplessness local in the parameter space.
We study ’t Hooft anomalies of global symmetries in 1+1d lattice Hamiltonian systems. We consider anomalies in internal and lattice translation symmetries. We derive a microscopic formula for the “anomaly cocycle” using topological defects implementing twisted boundary conditions. The anomaly takes value in the cohomology group H^3(G,U(1)) × H^2(G,U(1)) H 3 ( G , U ( 1 ) ) × H 2 ( G , U ( 1 ) ) . The first factor captures the anomaly in the internal symmetry group G, and the second factor corresponds to a generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis anomaly involving G and lattice translation. We present a systematic procedure to gauge internal symmetries (that may not act on-site) on the lattice. We show that the anomaly cocycle is the obstruction to gauging the internal symmetry while preserving the lattice translation symmetry. As an application, we construct anomaly-free chiral lattice gauge theories. We demonstrate a one-to-one correspondence between (locality-preserving) symmetry operators and topological defects, which is essential for the results we prove. We also discuss the generalization to fermionic theories. Finally, we construct non-invertible lattice translation symmetries by gauging internal symmetries with a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis anomaly.
We introduce stratified symmetry operators and stratified anomalies in quantum lattice systems as generalizations of onsite symmetry operators and onsite projective representations. A stratified symmetry operator is a symmetry operator that factorizes into mutually independent subsystem symmetry operators; its stratified anomaly is defined as the collection of anomalies associated with these subsystem operators. We develop a cellular chain complex formalism for stratified anomalies of internal symmetries and show that, in the presence of crystalline symmetries, they give rise to Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) constraints. This includes LSM anomalies and SPT-LSM theorems. We apply this framework to modulated G symmetries, which are symmetries whose total symmetry group is Gtot=G⋊Gs, with Gs the crystalline symmetry group. Notably, a nonzero stratified anomaly within a fundamental domain of Gs (e.g., a unit cell) does not always imply an LSM anomaly for modulated symmetries. Instead, the existence of an LSM anomaly also depends on how Gs acts on G. When Gs is the lattice translation group, we find an explicit criterion for when a stratified anomaly causes an LSM anomaly, and classify LSM anomalies using homology groups of Gs-invariant cellular chains. We illustrate this through examples of exponential and dipole symmetries with stratified anomalies, both in (1+1)D and (2+1)D, and construct a stabilizer code model of a modulated SPT subject to an SPT-LSM theorem.