Emergent (2+1)D topological orders from iterative (1+1)D gauging

Abstract

Gauging introduces gauge fields in order to localize an existing global symmetry, resulting in a dual global symmetry on the gauge fields that can be gauged again. By iterating the gauging process on spin chains with Abelian group symmetries and arranging the gauge fields in a 2D lattice, the local symmetries become the stabilizer of the $XZZX$-code for any Abelian group. By twisting the gauging map we obtain new codes that explicitly confine anyons, which violate an odd number of plaquette terms and whose fusion results in mobile dipole excitations. Our construction naturally realizes any gapped boundary by taking different quantum phases of the initial (1+1)D globally symmetric system. Our method establishes a new route to obtain higher dimensional topological codes from lower ones, to identify their gapped boundaries and their tensor network representations.