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Symmetry defects, e.g., vortices in conventional superfluids, play a critical role in a complete description of symmetry breaking phases. In this paper, we develop the theory of symmetry defects in fractonic superfluids, i.e., spontaneously higher-rank symmetry (HRS) breaking phases initially proposed by Yuan et al. [Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 023267 (2020)] and by Chen et al. [Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 013226 (2021)]. By Noether's theorem, HRS is associated with the conservation law of higher moments, e.g., dipoles, quadrupoles, and angular moments. We establish finite-temperature phase diagrams by identifying a series of topological phase transitions via the renormalization group flow equations and Debye-Hückel approximation. Accordingly, a series of Kosterlitz-Thouless topological transitions are found to occur successively at different temperatures, which are triggered by proliferation of defects, defect bound states, and so on. Such a hierarchical proliferation brings rich phase structures. Meanwhile, a screening effect from sufficiently high density of defect bound states leads to instability and collapse of the intermediate temperature phases, which further enriches the phase diagrams. For concreteness, we consider a fractonic superfluid in which “angular moments” are conserved. We then present the general theory, in which other types of HRS can be analyzed in a similar manner. Further directions are present at the end of the paper.

We formulate the superfluid weight in unconventional superconductors with k-dependent Cooper pair potentials based on the geometric properties of Bloch electrons. We apply the formula to a model of monolayer FeSe obtained by first-principles calculation. Our numerical calculations point to a significant enhancement of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature due to the geometric contribution to the superfluid weight, which is not included in the Fermi liquid theory. The k dependence of the gap function also stabilizes the superconducting state. Our results reveal that the geometric properties of Bloch electrons play an essential role in superconducting materials and pave the way for clarifying hidden aspects of superconductivity from the viewpoint of quantum geometry.

2D magnets represent material systems in which magnetic order and topological phase transitions can be observed. Based on these phenomena, novel types of computing architectures and magnetoelectronic devices can be envisaged. Unlike conventional magnetic films, their magnetism is independent of the substrate and interface qualities, and 2D magnetic properties manifest even in formally bulk single crystals. However, 2D magnetism in layered materials is rarely reported often due to weak exchange interactions and magnetic anisotropy, and low magnetic transition temperatures. Here, the electron spin resonance (ESR) properties of a layered antiferromagnetic CrSBr single crystal are reported. The W-like shape angular dependence of the ESR linewidth provides a signature for room temperature spin–spin correlations and for the XY spin model. By approaching the Néel temperature the arising of competing intralayer ferromagnetic and interlayer antiferromagnetic interactions might lead to the formation of vortex and antivortex pairs. This argument is inferred by modeling the temperature dependence of the ESR linewidth with the topological Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition. These findings together with the chemical stability and semiconducting properties, make CrSBr a promising layered magnet for future magneto- and topological-electronics.

A two-dimensional quantum system of dipoles, with a polarization angle not perpendicular to the plane, shows a transition from a gas to a stripe phase. We have studied the thermal properties of these two phases using the path-integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) method. By simulating the thermal density matrix, PIMC provides exact results for magnitudes of interest such as the superfluid fraction and the one-body density matrix. As it is well known, in two dimensions the superfluid-to-normal phase transition follows the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) scenario. Our results show that both the anisotropic gas and the stripe phases follow the BKT scaling laws. At fixed density and increasing the tilting angle, the transition temperature decreases in going from the gas to the stripe phase. Superfluidity in the perpendicular direction to the stripes is rather small close to the critical temperature but it becomes larger at lower temperatures, mainly close to the transition to the gas. Our results are in qualitative agreement with the supersolidity observed recently in a quasi-one-dimensional array of dipolar droplets., Postprint (published version)

We derive a mean-field description for two-dimensional (2D) interacting Bose gases at arbitrary temperatures. We find that genuine Bose-Einstein condensation with long-range coherence only survives at zero temperature. At finite temperatures, many-body pairing effects included in our mean-field theory introduce a finite amplitude for the pairing density, which results in a finite superfluid density. We incorporate Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) physics into our model by considering the phase fluctuations of our pairing field. This then leads to the result that the superfluid phase is only stable below the BKT temperature due to these phase fluctuations. In the weakly interacting regime at low temperature we compare our theory to previous results from perturbative calculations, renormalization group calculations as well as Monte Carlo simulations. We present a finite-temperature phase diagram of 2D Bose gases. One signature of the finite amplitude of the pairing density field is a two-peak structure in the single-particle spectral function, resembling that of the pseudogap phase in 2D attractive Fermi gases. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

The phase behaviour of the Lebwohl-Lasher lattice gas model (one of the simplest representations of a nematogenic fluid) confined in a slab is investigated by means of extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The model is known to yield a first order gas-liquid transition in both the 2D and 3D limits, that is coupled with an orientational order-disorder transition. This latter transition happens to be first order in the 3D limit and it shares some characteristic features with the continuous defect mediated Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in 2D. In this work we will analyze in detail the behaviour of this system taking full advantage of the lattice nature of the model and the particular symmetry of the interaction potential, which allows for the use of efficient cluster algorithms. © N.G. Almarza, C. Martin, E. Lomba, 2013.