English

Fractonic self-duality and covariant magnetic fractons

High Energy Physics - Theory 2025-07-08 v2 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Strongly Correlated Electrons General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

Fractons, excitations with restricted mobility, have emerged as a novel paradigm in high-energy and condensed matter physics, revealing deep connections to gauge theories and gravity. Here, we propose a tensorial generalization of electromagnetic duality using a doubled-potential framework with two symmetric tensor gauge fields. This approach symmetrically describes electric and magnetic sectors, introducing covariant magnetic fractons with reduced mobility and supporting a genuine fractonic self-duality. Notably, we find the absence of a Witten-like effect in the covariant fractonic case, precluding the emergence of fractonic dyons.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.18510,
  title  = {Fractonic self-duality and covariant magnetic fractons},
  author = {Erica Bertolini and Giandomenico Palumbo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.18510},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

32 pages, comments added, to appear in Annals of Physics