2000 character limit reached
Fracton-elasticity duality of two-dimensional superfluid vortex crystals: defect interactions and quantum melting (2005.12317v4)
Published 25 May 2020 in cond-mat.quant-gas, cond-mat.soft, cond-mat.str-el, cond-mat.supr-con, and hep-th
Abstract: Employing the fracton-elastic duality, we develop a low-energy effective theory of a zero-temperature vortex crystal in a two-dimensional bosonic superfluid which naturally incorporates crystalline topological defects. We extract static interactions between these defects and investigate several continuous quantum transitions triggered by the Higgs condensation of vortex vacancies/interstitials and dislocations. We propose that the quantum melting of the vortex crystal towards the hexatic or smectic phase may occur via a pair of continuous transitions separated by an intermediate vortex supersolid phase.