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Reflection and Time Reversal Symmetry Enriched Topological Phases of Matter: Path Integrals, Non-orientable Manifolds, and Anomalies

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

Maissam Barkeshli
Parsa Bonderson
Meng Cheng
Chao-Ming Jian
Kevin Walker

Abstract

We study symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases in 2+1 space-time dimensions with spatial reflection and/or time-reversal symmetries. We provide a systematic construction of a wide class of reflection and time-reversal SET phases in terms of a topological path integral defined on general space-time manifolds. An important distinguishing feature of different topological phases with reflection and/or time-reversal symmetry is the value of the path integral on non-orientable space-time manifolds. We derive a simple general formula for the path integral on the manifold Σ 2× S1, where Σ 2 is a two-dimensional non-orientable surface and S1 is a circle. This also gives an expression for the ground state degeneracy of the SET on the surface Σ 2 that depends on the reflection symmetry fractionalization class, generalizing the Verlinde formula for ground state degeneracy on orientable surfaces. Consistency of the action of the mapping class group on non-orientable manifolds leads us to a constraint that can detect when a time-reversal or reflection SET phase is anomalous in (2+1)D and, thus, can only exist at the surface of a (3+1)D symmetry protected topological (SPT) state. Given a (2+1)D reflection and/or time-reversal SET phase, we further derive a general formula that determines which (3+1)D reflection and/or time-reversal SPT phase hosts the (2+1)D SET phase as its surface termination. A number of explicit examples are studied in detail. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Date Published

Journal

Communications in Mathematical Physics

Volume

374

Issue

2

Number of Pages

1021-1124,

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85068822188&doi=10.1007%2fs00220-019-03475-8&partnerID=40&md5=b5f990e0960e1c821a4a5c0b2a93fe38

DOI

10.1007/s00220-019-03475-8

Group (Lab)

Chao-Ming Jian Group

Funding Source

PHY-1066293
PHY-1125915
GBMF4304
113 –116

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