Exact solution of the three-dimensional (3D) Z 2 lattice gauge theory
Zhidong Zhang
Abstract The gauge invariance is an important phenomenon widely occurring in various matters with many-body interactions. The gauge theories are very important for understanding the evolution of fundamental physical processes in particle physics, high-energy physics, and condensed matter physics. In this work, the origin of nonlocal effects is inspected, and the contributions of nontrivial topological structures to physical properties are investigated in detail for both the three-dimensional (3D) Ising model and the 3D Z 2 lattice gauge model. Then, the exact solution for the 3D Z 2 lattice gauge theory is derived by the duality between the two models. The partition function, the spontaneous magnetization, the true range of correlation, and the critical point are rigorously derived for the 3D Z 2 lattice gauge theory. The critical exponents of the 3D Z 2 lattice gauge theory are in the same universality class as the 3D Ising model, which are α = 0, β = 3/8, γ = 5/4, δ = 13/3, η = 1/8, and ν = 2/3. Several fundamental issues, such as dimensionality, duality, symmetry, manifold and degenerate states, are investigated for these many-body interacting spin systems. The connections with superfluid, superconductors, particle physics, etc. are evaluated. Furthermore, physical significances and mathematical aspects of the 3D Z 2 lattice gauge theory are discussed with respect to topology, geometry, and algebra. The present results for the 3D Z 2 lattice gauge theory are helpful for figuring out the basic features of 3D lattice gauge theories with other symmetries, such as U(1), SU(2), and SU(3). This work shines a light on the interdisciplinarity between many-body interacting systems, algebra, topology, and geometry.
arXiv:2412.10412•Open Physics•Jan 1, 2025•6 citations