Towards a mathematical formalism for classifying phases of matter

Abstract

We propose a unified mathematical framework for classifying phases of matter. The framework is based on different types of combinatorial structures with a notion of locality called lattices. A tensor lattice is a local prescription that associates tensor networks to those lattices. Different lattices are related by local operations called moves. Those local operations define consistency conditions for the tensors of the tensor network, the solutions to which yield exactly solvable models for all kinds of phases. We implement the framework to obtain models for symmetry-breaking and topological phases in up to three space-time dimensions, their boundaries, defects, domain walls and symmetries, as well as their anyons for 2+1-dimensional systems. We also deliver ideas of how other kinds of phases, like SPT/SET, fermionic, free-fermionic, chiral, and critical phases, can be described within our framework. We also define another structure called contracted tensor lattices which generalize tensor lattices: The former associate tensors instead of tensor networks to lattices, and the consistency conditions for those tensors are defined by another kind of local operation called gluings. Using this generalization, our framework also covers mathematical structures like axiomatic (non-fully extended or defective) TQFTs, that do not directly describe phases on a microscopic physical level, but formalize certain aspects of potential phases, like the anyon statistics of 2+1-dimensional phases. We also introduce the very powerful concept of (contracted) tensor lattice mapping, unifying a lots of different operations, such as stacking, anyon fusion, anyon condensation, equivalence of different fixed point models, taking the Drinfel'd centre, trivial defects or interpreting a bosonic model as a fermionic model.