Bulk-Edge Correspondence via Higher Gauge Theory
Abstract
More profound than bulk topological order of quantum materials is only its unwinding via gapless excitations along boundaries of the sample. We recast this bulk-edge correspondence -- for the experimentally relevant case of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) systems -- in terms of effective relative higher gauge theory, controlled by choices of classifying fibrations. For FQH systems, we identify the complex Hopf fibration as classifying the bulk/boundary topological effects, and find that it yields a non-Lagrangian reconstruction of Floreanini-Jackiw/Wess-Zumino-Witten chiral edge currents. Remarkably, the resulting effective FQH higher gauge theory turns out to be "geometrically engineered" on M2/M5-branes probing A-type orbi-singularities in 11D supergravity, globally completed by flux-quantization in twisted equivariant differential (TED) Cohomotopy: Here the M-string ends of M2-branes on M5-branes engineer the FQH liquid's boundary. This geometric engineering on M-branes might naturally elucidate the curious combination of -symmetry and of super-symmetry that is known to govern the collective excitations of FQH liquids at long wavelengths.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2605.10232,
title = {Bulk-Edge Correspondence via Higher Gauge Theory},
author = {Hisham Sati and Urs Schreiber},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.10232},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
47 pages, 7 figures