English

Translation Groups for arbitrary Gauge Fields in Synthetic Crystals with real hopping amplitudes

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2025-08-26 v2 Other Condensed Matter Soft Condensed Matter

Abstract

The Cayley-crystals introduced in [F. R. Lux and E. Prodan, Annales Henri Poincar\'e 25(8), 3563 (2024)] are a class of lattices endowed with a Hamiltonian whose translation group GG is generic and possibly non-commutative. We show that these systems naturally realize the generalization of the so-called magnetic translation groups to arbitrary discrete gauge groups. A one-body dynamics emulates that of a particle carrying a superposition of charges, each coupled to distinct static gauge-field configuration. The possible types of gauge fields are determined by the irreducible representations of the commutator subgroup CGC \subset G, while the Wilson-loop configurations - which need not be homogeneous - are fixed by the embedding of CC in GG. The role of other subgroups in shaping both the lattice geometry and the dynamics is analyze in depth assuming CC finite. We discuss a theorem of direct engineering relevance that, for any cyclic gauge group, yields all compatible translation groups. We then construct two-dimensional examples of Cayley-crystals equivalent to square lattices threaded by inhomogeneous magnetic fluxes. Importantly, Cayley-crystals can be realized with only real hopping amplitudes and in scalable geometries that can fit higher-than-3D dynamics, enabling experimental exploration and eventual exploitation in metamaterials, cQED, and other synthetic platforms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.08461,
  title  = {Translation Groups for arbitrary Gauge Fields in Synthetic Crystals with real hopping amplitudes},
  author = {Marco Marciani},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.08461},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

41 pages, 6 figures. Improved few sentences, especially in the abstract. Any comment can be sent to [email protected]. Submission to SciPost