CAREER: Emergent Phases: Fracton, Symmetry, and Decoherence

NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY

This CAREER award supports research and education activities towards advancing our understanding of an unusual phase of matter known as the "fracton" phase. Fractons are unique particle-like responses in certain materials that have distinctive behavior: Unlike familiar particles like electrons or protons, they cannot move freely and often require binding in groups in order to move.

This intriguing property is transforming our understanding of matter and sparking interest across diverse fields such as quantum materials, quantum field theory, and quantum information science. The restricted mobility of fractons also offers exciting potential for breakthroughs in emerging technologies, especially in developing quantum hardware and efficient quantum computers.

The research will focus on three main objectives: 1) developing theoretical approaches to understand the collective behavior of fractons, 2) investigating fractons in open quantum systems, where interactions with the environment introduce challenges like noise and interference, and 3) designing algorithms that enable control of fracton phases in dynamic, out-of-equilibrium settings. Progress in these areas is key to leveraging fractons for quantum error correction and information processing technologies.

This CAREER award also supports educational and outreach activities to train, mentor, energize, and retain students in STEM by providing immersive learning experiences. The PI will expand outreach to encourage female students and postdocs in STEM through the Women in Quantum Era seminar series and inspire future STEM aspirants through the Science Inspired by Art workshop, which will employ modular origami and decorative knots to interactively explore geometry and related scientific ideas.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY

This CAREER award supports theoretical research and education to understand the interplay between symmetry and decoherence in fracton and topological phases under both equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions. The project aims to study fracton and topological states by constructing microscopic models and developing hybrid fracton field theories, allowing for the exploration of various correlated phases and phase transitions.

A key component of this research involves open quantum systems, investigating whether fracton states can retain quantum coherence and entanglement in noisy environments, and exploring if decoherence can give rise to unique mixed ensembles absent in thermal equilibrium. Expected outcomes include advancements in quantum field theory frameworks with generalized symmetries and insights into dissipation and decoherence in dynamical phase transitions.

More broadly, this research connects the fields of condensed matter and quantum information theory, with potential applications in scalable quantum simulators and robust quantum information processing.

This CAREER award also supports educational and outreach activities to train, mentor, energize, and retain students in STEM by providing immersive learning experiences. The PI will expand outreach to encourage female students and postdocs in STEM through the Women in Quantum Era seminar series and inspire future STEM aspirants through the Science Inspired by Art workshop, which will employ modular origami and decorative knots to interactively explore geometry and related scientific ideas.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.