Fractonic solids

Abstract

Fractons are exotic quasiparticles whose mobility in space is restricted by symmetries. In potential real-world realisations, fractons are likely lodged to a physical material rather than absolute space. Motivated by this, we propose and explore a new symmetry principle that restricts the motion of fractons relative to a physical solid. Unlike models with restricted mobility in absolute space, these fractonic solids admit gauge-invariant momentum density, are compatible with boost symmetry, and can consistently be coupled to gravity. We also propose a holographic model for fractonic solids.