We present an effective field theory approach to the fracton phases. The approach is based on the notion of a multipole algebra. It is an extension of space(time) symmetries of a charge-conserving matter that includes global symmetries responsible for the conservation of various components of the multipole moments of the charge density. We explain how to construct field theories invariant under the action of the algebra. These field theories generally break rotational invariance and exhibit anisotropic scaling. We further explain how to partially gauge the multipole algebra. Such gauging makes the symmetries responsible for the conservation of multipole moments local, while keeping rotation and translations symmetries global. It is shown that upon such gauging one finds the symmetric tensor gauge theories, as well as the generalized gauge theories discussed recently in the literature. We refer to all such theories as multipole gauge theories. The outcome of the gauging procedure depends on the choice of the multipole algebra. In particular, we show how to construct an effective theory for the U(1) version of the Haah code based on the principles of symmetry and provide a two-dimensional example with operators supported on a Sierpinski triangle. We show that upon condensation of charged excitations, fracton phases of both types as well as various Symmetry-protected topological phases emerge. Finally, the relation between the present approach and the formalism based on polynomials over finite fields is discussed.
Given the algebraic data characterizing any (2+1)D bosonic or fermionic topological order with a global symmetry group
G=U(1)⋊H, we construct a (3+1)D topologically invariant path integral in the presence of a curved background
G gauge field, as an exact combinatorial state sum. Specifically, the
U(1) component of the
G gauge field can have a non-trivial second Chern class, extending previous work that was restricted to flat
G bundles. Our construction expresses the
U(1) gauge field in terms of a Villain formulation on the triangulation, which includes a 1-form
R gauge field and 2-form
Z gauge field. We develop a new graphical calculus for anyons interacting with "Villain symmetry defects", associated with the 1-form and 2-form background gauge fields. This graphical calculus is used to define the (3+1)D path integral, which can describe either a bosonic or fermionic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase. For example, we can construct the topological path integral on curved
U(1) bundles for the (3+1)D fermionic topological insulator in class AII and topological superconductor in class AIII given appropriate (2+1)D fermionic symmetry fractionalization data; these then give invariants of 4-manifolds with Spin
c or Pin
c structures and their generalizations. The (3+1)D path integrals define anomaly indicators for the (2+1)D topological orders; in the case of Abelian (2+1)D topological orders, we derive by explicit computation all of the mixed
U(1) anomaly indicator formulas proposed by Lapa and Levin. We also propose a Spin
c generalization of the Gauss-Milgram sum, valid for super-modular categories.
Symmetry-protected topological phases (SPT) are short-range entangled gapped states protected by global symmetry. Nontrivial SPT phases cannot be adiabatically connected to the trivial disordered state (or atomic insulator) as long as certain global symmetry
G is unbroken. At low energies, most of the two-dimensional SPTs with Abelian symmetry can be described by topological quantum field theory (TQFT) of the multicomponent Chern-Simons type. However, in contrast to the fractional quantum Hall effect where TQFT can give rise to interesting bulk anyons, TQFT for SPTs only supports trivial bulk excitations. The essential question in TQFT descriptions for SPTs is to understand how the global symmetry is implemented in the partition function. In this paper, we systematically study TQFT of three-dimensional SPTs with unitary Abelian symmetry (e.g., ${\mathbb{Z}}_{{N}_{1}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{{N}_{2}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}...$). In addition to the usual multicomponent
BF topological term at level-1, we find that there are new topological terms with quantized coefficients (e.g., ${a}^{1}\ensuremath{\wedge}{a}^{2}\ensuremath{\wedge}d{a}^{2}$ and ${a}^{1}\ensuremath{\wedge}{a}^{2}\ensuremath{\wedge}{a}^{3}\ensuremath{\wedge}{a}^{4}$) in TQFT actions, where
a1,a2,... are 1-form U(1) gauge fields. These additional topological terms cannot be adiabatically turned off as long as
G is unbroken. By investigating symmetry transformations for the TQFT partition function, we end up with the classification of SPTs that is consistent with the well-known group cohomology approach. We also discuss how to gauge the global symmetry and possible TQFT descriptions of Dijkgraaf-Witten gauge theory.