No Arabic abstract
The classification of topological phases of matter in the presence of interactions is an area of intense interest. One possible means of classification is via studying the partition function under modular transforms, as the presence of an anomalous phase arising in the edge theory of a D-dimensional system under modular transformation, or modular anomaly, signals the presence of a (D+1)-D non-trivial bulk. In this work, we discuss the modular transformations of conformal field theories along a (2+1)-D and a (3+1)-D edge. Using both analytical and numerical methods, we show that chiral complex free fermions in (2+1)-D and (3+1)-D are modular invariant. However, we show in (3+1)-D that when the edge theory is coupled to a background U(1) gauge field this results in the presence of a modular anomaly that is the manifestation of a quantum Hall effect in a (4+1)-D bulk. Using the modular anomaly, we find that the edge theory of (4+1)-D insulator with spacetime inversion symmetry(P*T) and fermion number parity symmetry for each spin becomes modular invariant when 8 copies of the edges exist.
Certain patterns of symmetry fractionalization in (2+1)D topologically ordered phases of matter can be anomalous, which means that they possess an obstruction to being realized in purely (2+1)D. In this paper we demonstrate how to compute the anomaly for symmetry-enriched topological (SET) states of bosons in complete generality. We demonstrate how, given any unitary modular tensor category (UMTC) and symmetry fractionalization class for a global symmetry group $G$, one can define a (3+1)D topologically invariant path integral in terms of a state sum for a $G$ symmetry-protected topological (SPT) state. We present an exactly solvable Hamiltonian for the system and demonstrate explicitly a (2+1)D $G$ symmetric surface termination that hosts deconfined anyon excitations described by the given UMTC and symmetry fractionalization class. We present concrete algorithms that can be used to compute anomaly indicators in general. Our approach applies to general symmetry groups, including anyon-permuting and anti-unitary symmetries. In addition to providing a general way to compute the anomaly, our result also shows, by explicit construction, that every symmetry fractionalization class for any UMTC can be realized at the surface of a (3+1)D SPT state. As a byproduct, this construction also provides a way of explicitly seeing how the algebraic data that defines symmetry fractionalization in general arises in the context of exactly solvable models. In the case of unitary orientation-preserving symmetries, our results can also be viewed as providing a method to compute the $mathcal{H}^4(G, U(1))$ obstruction that arises in the theory of $G$-crossed braided tensor categories, for which no general method has been presented to date.
Given a (2+1)D fermionic topological order and a symmetry fractionalization class for a global symmetry group $G$, we show how to construct a (3+1)D topologically invariant path integral for a fermionic $G$ symmetry-protected topological state ($G$-FSPT) in terms of an exact combinatorial state sum. This provides a general way to compute anomalies in (2+1)D fermionic symmetry-enriched topological states of matter. Equivalently, our construction provides an exact (3+1)D combinatorial state sum for a path integral of any FSPT that admits a symmetry-preserving gapped boundary, including the (3+1)D topological insulators and superconductors in class AII, AIII, DIII, and CII that arise in the free fermion classification. Our construction uses the fermionic topological order (characterized by a super-modular tensor category) and symmetry fractionalization data to define a (3+1)D path integral for a bosonic theory that hosts a non-trivial emergent fermionic particle, and then condenses the fermion by summing over closed 3-form $mathbb{Z}_2$ background gauge fields. This procedure involves a number of non-trivial higher-form anomalies associated with Fermi statistics and fractional quantum numbers that need to be appropriately canceled off with a Grassmann integral that depends on a generalized spin structure. We show how our construction reproduces the $mathbb{Z}_{16}$ anomaly indicator for time-reversal symmetric topological superconductors with ${bf T}^2 = (-1)^F$. Mathematically, with standard technical assumptions, this implies that our construction gives a combinatorial state sum on a triangulated 4-manifold that can distinguish all $mathbb{Z}_{16}$ $mathrm{Pin}^+$ smooth bordism classes. As such, it contains the topological information encoded in the eta invariant of the pin$^+$ Dirac operator, thus giving an example of a state sum TQFT that can distinguish exotic smooth structure.
We classify symmetry fractionalization and anomalies in a (3+1)d U(1) gauge theory enriched by a global symmetry group $G$. We find that, in general, a symmetry-enrichment pattern is specified by 4 pieces of data: $rho$, a map from $G$ to the duality symmetry group of this $mathrm{U}(1)$ gauge theory which physically encodes how the symmetry permutes the fractional excitations, $ uinmathcal{H}^2_{rho}[G, mathrm{U}_mathsf{T}(1)]$, the symmetry actions on the electric charge, $pinmathcal{H}^1[G, mathbb{Z}_mathsf{T}]$, indication of certain domain wall decoration with bosonic integer quantum Hall (BIQH) states, and a torsor $n$ over $mathcal{H}^3_{rho}[G, mathbb{Z}]$, the symmetry actions on the magnetic monopole. However, certain choices of $(rho, u, p, n)$ are not physically realizable, i.e. they are anomalous. We find that there are two levels of anomalies. The first level of anomalies obstruct the fractional excitations being deconfined, thus are referred to as the deconfinement anomaly. States with these anomalies can be realized on the boundary of a (4+1)d long-range entangled state. If a state does not suffer from a deconfinement anomaly, there can still be the second level of anomaly, the more familiar t Hooft anomaly, which forbids certain types of symmetry fractionalization patterns to be implemented in an on-site fashion. States with these anomalies can be realized on the boundary of a (4+1)d short-range entangled state. We apply these results to some interesting physical examples.
We study the problem of disorder-free metals near a continuous Ising nematic quantum critical point in $d=3+1$ dimensions. We begin with perturbation theory in the `Yukawa coupling between the electrons and undamped bosons (nematic order parameter fluctuations) and show that the perturbation expansion breaks down below energy scales where the bosons get substantially Landau damped. Above this scale however, we find a regime in which low-energy fermions obtain an imaginary self-energy that varies linearly with frequency, realizing the `marginal Fermi liquid phenomenologycite{Varma}. We discuss a large N theory in which the marginal Fermi liquid behavior is enhanced while the role of Landau damping is suppressed, and show that quasiparticles obtain a decay rate parametrically larger than their energy.
We discuss a way to construct a commuting projector Hamiltonian model for a (3+1)d topological superconductor in class DIII. The wave function is given by a sort of string net of the Kitaev wire, decorated on the time reversal (T) domain wall. Our Hamiltonian is provided on a generic 3d manifold equipped with a discrete form of the spin structure. We will see how the 3d spin structure induces a 2d spin structure (called a Kasteleyn direction on a 2d lattice) on T domain walls, which makes possible to define fluctuating Kitaev wires on them. Upon breaking the T symmetry in our model, we find the unbroken remnant of the symmetry which is defined on the time reversal domain wall. The domain wall supports the 2d non-trivial SPT protected by the unbroken symmetry, which allows us to determine the SPT classification of our model, based on the recent QFT argument by Hason, Komargodski, and Thorngren.