Emergent particles and gauge fields in quantum matter

TL;DR

This paper provides a pedagogical overview of emergent particles and gauge fields in quantum matter, highlighting modern discoveries involving entanglement, topology, and fractionalized quasiparticles beyond the standard model.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of emergent particles and gauge fields in correlated matter, emphasizing recent advances involving fractionalization, topological states, and exotic quasiparticles.

Findings

Fractionalized quasiparticles with unique quantum properties

Emergence of gauge fields and gauge bosons in correlated systems

Connections between condensed matter phenomena and particle physics

Abstract

I give a pedagogical introduction to some of the many particles and gauge fields that can emerge in correlated matter. The standard model of materials is built on Landau's foundational principles: adiabatic continuity and spontaneous symmetry breaking. These ideas lead to quasiparticles that inherit their quantum numbers from fundamental particles, Nambu-Goldstone bosons, the Anderson-Higgs mechanism, and topological defects in order parameters. I then describe the modern discovery of physics beyond the standard model. Here, quantum correlations (entanglement) and topology play key roles in defining the properties of matter. This can lead to fractionalised quasiparticles that carry only a fraction of the quantum numbers that define fundamental particles. These particles can have exotic properties: for example Majorana fermions are their own antiparticles, anyons have exchange statistics that are neither bosonic nor fermionic, and magnetic monopoles do not occur in the vacuum. Gauge fields emerge naturally in the description of highly correlated matter and can lead to gauge bosons. Relationships to the standard model of particle physics are discussed.