Claudio Chamon
Boston University
A major goal of condensed matter physics is to understand and to
classify all possible phases of matter; another one is to uncover
phases outside contemporary paradigms. While these two goals are
evidently contradictory, together they move the field forward. An
example of a new class of systems whose complete understanding is
still in progress is that of what is now commonly referred to as
fractons in general, or more precisely, systems with fracton
excitations. These systems have rich properties that can be studied
from diverse perspectives, including topological order, quantum
dynamics, elasticity, and fundamentals of quantum field theory.
In the first lecture we will introduce fracton systems from the
lattice perspective, and concentrate on their quantum dynamics and
topological order.