Phonon induced rank-2 U(1) nematic liquid states

TL;DR

This paper proposes a practical scheme to realize rank-2 U(1) gauge theories using coupled optical phonons and nematic degrees of freedom, bridging theoretical models of fractons with experimental platforms.

Contribution

It introduces a feasible method to realize rank-2 U(1) gauge theories experimentally through phonon and nematic systems, expanding potential physical realizations.

Findings

Proposes a scheme using coupled optical phonons and nematic degrees of freedom.

Identifies experimental platforms from liquid crystals to electron orbitals.

Shows realization of the electrostatics sector of rank-2 U(1) gauge theory.

Abstract

Fascinating new phases of matter can emerge from strong electron interactions in solids. In recent years, a new exotic class of many-body phases, described by generalized electromagnetism of symmetric rank-2 electric and magnetic fields and immobile charge excitations dubbed \textit{fractons}, has attracted wide attention. Besides having interesting properties in their own right, the models with generalized electromagnetism are also closely related to gapped fracton quantum orders, new phases of dipole-covering systems, as well as quantum information and quantum gravity. However, experimental realization of the rank-2 U(1) gauge theory is still absent and even known practical experimental routes are scarce. In this work, we propose a scheme of coupled optical phonons and nematic degrees of freedom, as well as several concrete experimental platforms for their realizations. We show that these systems can realize the electrostatics sector of the rank-2 U(1) gauge theory. A great advantage of the proposed scheme is that it requires only the basic ingredients of phonon and nematic physics, and hence may be applicable to a wide range of experimental realizations from liquid crystals to electron orbitals.