Symmetry Enriched Phases via Pseudo Anyon Condensation

Abstract

We show that a large class of symmetry enriched (topological) phases of matter in 2+1 dimensions can be embedded in "larger" topological phases- phases describable by larger hidden Hopf symmetries. Such an embedding is analogous to anyon condensation, although no physical condensation actually occurs. This generalizes the Landau-Ginzburg paradigm of symmetry breaking from continuous groups to quantum groups- in fact algebras- and offers a potential classification of the symmetry enriched (topological) phases thus obtained, including symmetry protected trivial phases as well, in a unified framework.