Nonperturbative signatures of fractons in the twisted multiflavor Schwinger Model
Gauge-field configurations with nontrivial topology have profound consequences for the physics of Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories. Over time, arguments have been gathering for the existence of gauge-field configurations with fractional topological charge, called fractons. Ground-state properties of gauge theories can drastically change in presence of fractons in the path integral. However, understanding the origin of such fractons is usually restricted to semiclassical argumentation. Here, we show that fractons persist in strongly correlated many-body systems, using the multiflavor Schwinger model of quantum electrodynamics as a paradigm example. Through detailed numerical tensor-network analysis, we find strong fracton signatures even in highly discretized lattice models, at sizes that are implementable on already existing quantum-simulation devices. Our work sheds light on how the nontrivial topology of gauge theories persists in challenging nonperturbative regimes, and it shows a path forward to probing it in tabletop experiments.
Authors
- Erez Zohar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6993-6569)
- Paolo Stornati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4708-9340)
- Maciej Lewenstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0210-7800)
- Valentin Kasper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7687-663X)
- Philipp Hauke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0414-1754)
- Karl J. Friston
Institutions
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Institute of Photonic Sciences (ES)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics And Applications (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
- Published
- 2025-06-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/lpwm-65hr
- Primary Topic
- Quantum many-body systems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Fundación Cellex
- “la Caixa” Foundation
- European Commission
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras
- Israel Science Foundation
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler
- Università degli Studi di Trento
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center
- Provincia Autonoma di Trento
- QuantERA
- FUNDACIÓ Privada MIR-PUIG
- Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- European Research Council
- Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca
- Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- European Social Fund
- HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
- HORIZON EUROPE European Innovation Council