Related papers: Smectics: Symmetry Breaking, Singularities, and Su…
The Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem and its higher dimensional generalizations by Oshikawa and Hastings require that translationally invariant 2D spin systems with a half-integer spin per unit cell must either have a continuum of low energy…
Symmetry-breaking phase transitions are ubiquitous in condensed matter systems and in quantum field theories. There is also good reason to believe that they feature in the very early history of the Universe. At many such transitions…
Grain boundaries in extremely confined colloidal smectics possess a topological fine structure with coexisting nematic and tetratic symmetry of the director field. An alternative way to approach the problem of smectic topology is via the…
We consider an example of a system with two degrees of freedom admitting separation of variables but having a subset of codimension 1 on which the 2-form defining the symplectic structure degenerates. We show how to use separation of…
We propose a set of constraints on the ground-state wavefunctions of fracton phases, which provide a possible generalization of the string-net equations used to characterize topological orders in two spatial dimensions. Our constraint…
In this work the spontaneous symmetry breaking in certain nonlinear theories with second-class constraints is explored. Using the Dirac's method we perform an analysis of the constraints and the counting of the degrees of freedom. The…
Symmetry Breaking is used as an "underlying principle", bringing different features of QFT to the foreground. However, the understanding of Symmetry Breaking that is used here is quite different from what is done in the mainstream: Symmetry…
Observing and characterizing the complex ordering phenomena of liquid crystals subjected to external constraints constitutes an ongoing challenge for chemists and physicists alike. To elucidate the delicate balance appearing when the…
Higher-form symmetries are a valuable tool for classifying topological phases of matter. However, emergent higher-form symmetries in interacting many-body quantum systems are not typically exact due to the presence of topological defects.…
Topological defects -- locations of local mismatch of order -- are a universal concept playing important roles in diverse systems studied in physics and beyond, including the universe, various condensed matter systems, and recently, even…
In the limit where the bending modulus vanishes, we construct layer configurations with arbitrary dislocation textures by exploiting a connection between uniformly-spaced layers in two dimensions and developable surfaces in three…
We propose a Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT) for continuous spacetime symmetries. For a $d$-dimensional theory, it is given by a $(d+1)$-dimensional BF-theory for the spacetime symmetry group, and whenever $d$ is even, it can…
The topological understanding of nematic liquid crystals is traditionally centered on singularities, or defects, and their classification via homotopy theory. However, this approach has ultimately proved insufficient to properly capture a…
This work reports an extensive study of three-dimensional topological ordered phases that, in one of the directions behave like usual topological order concerning mobility of excitations, but in the perpendicular plane manifest type-II…
Topological defects provide a unifying language to describe how orientational order breaks down in active and living matter. Considering cells as elongated particles confluent, epithelial tissues can be interpreted as nematic fields and its…
In these lectures, I review cosmological phase transitions and the topological aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. I then discuss the formation of walls, strings and monopoles during phase transitions including lattice based studies…
We study the homogeneous breaking of spatial translation symmetry concomitantly with the spontaneous breaking of other internal and spacetime symmetries, including dilations. We use the symmetry-breaking pattern as the only input to derive,…
Topological defects are the key feature mediating 2D phase transitions. However, both resolution and tunability have been lacking to access the dynamics of the transitions. With dynamic Kerr microscopy, we directly capture the melting of a…
An SU(2) lattice gauge theory with two doublets of complex scalar fields is considered. All continuous symmetries are identified and, using the nonperturbative methods of lattice field theory, the phase diagram is mapped out by direct…
Liquid crystals can self-organize into a layered smectic phase. While the smectic layers are typically straight forming a lamellar pattern in bulk, external confinement may drastically distort the layers due to the boundary conditions…