Hidden order in dielectrics: string condensation, solitons, and the charge-vortex duality

Description of electrons in a dielectric as solitons of the polarization field requires that the interaction between the solitons (prior to their coupling to electromagnetism) is short-range. We present an analytical study of the mechanism by which this is achieved. The mechanism is unusual in that it enables screening of electrically neutral soliton cores by polarization charges. We also argue that the structure of the solitons allows them to be quantized as either fermions or bosons. At the quantum level, the theory has, in addition to the solitonic electric, elementary magnetic excitations, which give rise to a topological contribution to the magnetic susceptibility.