Condensed Matter Theory Seminar | April 27, 10:00

Fun with fractons

Dominic Williamson

Topological phases of matter have been the subject of intense interest since the discovery of the fractional quantum hall effect. More recently they have come to underpin leading approaches to quantum error correction. To date, the focus has remained on topological phases in two dimensions and the anyon models that describe them. In three dimensions our understanding is significantly less developed, the existence of immobile quasiparticles known as fractons opens up a landscape of intricate possibilities. The immobility of fractons leads to new possible symmetry actions, subdimensional phase transitions, and glassy dynamics that can be harnessed to produce more robust quantum codes. In this talk I will give an overview of recent efforts to develop a systematic understanding of fracton topological phases and what this might tell us about three dimensional topological codes.


University of Sydney
Zoom (https://uni-koeln.zoom.us/j/96646818958 )
Contact: Guo-Yi Zhou