Event Details

A fracton is a new type of emergent quasiparticle which cannot move by itself, yet is able to form mobile bound states. These exotic quasiparticles were first encountered in certain exactly solvable spin models. More recently, it has been demonstrated that fractons are concretely realized as the lattice defects of ordinary two-dimensional crystals. In this talk, I will first develop the theoretical framework for fractons in terms of tensor gauge theories, which have unusual conservation laws leading to the immobility of fractons. I will then discuss the physical realizations of fractons, focusing on the example of elasticity theory. Finally, I will discuss the phenomenology of fracton systems and some of the experimental signatures which can be used to diagnose the presence of these unusual new particles.