Topological fracton quantum phase transitions by tuning exact tensor network states

Abstract

Gapped fracton phases of matter generalize the concept of topological order and broaden our fundamental understanding of entanglement in quantum many-body systems. However, their analytical or numerical description beyond exactly solvable models remains a formidable challenge. Here we employ an exact 3D quantum tensor-network approach that allows us to study a $\mathbb{Z}_N$ generalization of the prototypical X cube fracton model and its quantum phase transitions between distinct topological states via fully tractable wavefunction deformations. We map the (deformed) quantum states exactly to a combination of a classical lattice gauge theory and a plaquette clock model, and employ numerical techniques to calculate various entanglement order parameters. For the $\mathbb{Z}_N$ model we find a family of (weakly) first-order fracton confinement transitions that in the limit of $N\to\infty$ converge to a continuous phase transition beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. We also discover a line of 3D conformal quantum critical points (with critical magnetic flux loop fluctuations) which, in the $N\to\infty$ limit, appears to coexist with a gapless deconfined fracton state.