From orbifolding conformal field theories to gauging topological phases

Abstract

Topological phases of matter in (2+1) dimensions are commonly equipped with global symmetries, such as electric-magnetic duality in gauge theories and bilayer symmetry in fractional quantum Hall states. Gauging these symmetries into local dynamical ones is one way of obtaining exotic phases from conventional systems. We study this using the bulk-boundary correspondence and applying the orbifold construction to the (1+1) dimensional edge described by a conformal field theory (CFT). Our procedure puts twisted boundary conditions into the partition function, and predicts the fusion, spin and braiding behavior of anyonic excitations after gauging. We demonstrate this for the electric-magnetic self-dual $\mathbb{Z}_N$ gauge theory, the twofold symmetric $SU(3)_1$, and the $S_3$-symmetric $SO(8)_1$ Wess-Zumino-Witten theories.