Fractonic superfluids

Abstract

We propose a superfluid phase of "many-fracton system"in which charge and total dipole moments are conserved quantities. In this work, both microscopic model and long-wavelength effective theory are analyzed. We start with a second quantized microscopic model and formulate the coherent-state path-integral representation. With repulsive interactions and positive chemical potential, we calculate various properties of the resulting superfluid state and make comparison with a conventional superfluid. We deduce a highly nonlinear Euler-Lagrange equation as well as two Noether currents. We also formulate time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii-type equations that govern hydrodynamical behaviors. We study the classical ground-state wave function, the associated off-diagonal long range order (ODLRO), supercurrents, critical current, and unconventional topological vortices. At length scale much larger than coherence length ζcoh, we derive the effective theory of our microscopic model. Based on the effective theory, we analyze gapless Goldstone modes and specific heat capacity at low temperatures as well as the fate of ODLRO against quantum fluctuations. Several future directions, e.g., numerical analysis of Gross-Pitaevskii equations, fermionic fractons, fractonic superconductors, and cold-atom experimental realization, are discussed.