An origin of light and electrons

a unication of
gauge interaction and Fermi statistics
Michael Levin and Xiao-Gang Wen
http://dao.mit.edu/wen
Articial light and quantum orders ...
PRB 68 115413 (2003)
Fermions, strings, and gauge elds ...
PRB 67 245316 (2003)
Strings-net condensation ...
PRB 71 045110 (2005)
Quantum eld theory of many-body systems
(Oxford Univ. Press, 2004)
Deep mysteries of nature
Identical particles (Why two hydrogen atoms are exactly the same?)
Gauge interactions (long range, massless gauge bosons)
Fermi Statistics (Who ordered it?)
Massless fermions (nearly, M
f
/M
P
10
20
)
Chiral fermions (Are we edge excitations?)
Gravity (The correct physical theory allows only integers)
A great-grand unication:
a single structure that explains all the mysteries
We will discuss a baby-grand unication that explains the rst four
mysteries from a single structure local bosonic model.
Where do Maxwell equation and Dirac equation come from?
Eular equation:
2
t
v
2

2
i
= 0 massless scalar identical bosons
superuid density uctuations
Navier equation:
2
t
u
i
T
ijk
m

j

k
u
m
= 0 phonons (identical bosons)
crystal lattice uctuations
Identical particles vacuum is not empty
Maxwell equation: E +
t
B = B
t
E = 0 photons
???
Dirac equation: (

m) = 0 fermions
Both Maxwell equation and Dirac equation can come from local
bosonic models or lattice spin models if bosons/spin (a) form Long
strings and (b) strings from a quantum liquid (string-net condensed
state):
Gauge bosons and fermions can emerge as low energy collective
modes of the condensed string-nets
String-net condensation provides a way to unify gauge interac-
tions and Fermi statistics
The appearance of the gauge interaction and Fermi statistics in our
nature is not an accident.
A local bosonic model on cubic lattice
3
4 1
2
i
I+z
I+y I+x
I
I+z
I+y
I
I+x
A rotor
i
on every link of the cubic lattice:
H = U

I
Q
2
I
g

p
(B
p
+h.c.) +J

i
(L
z
i
)
2
Q
I
=

i next to I
L
z
i
, B
p
= L
+
1
L

2
L
+
3
L

4
L
z
= i

: the angular momentum of the rotor

L

= e
i
: the raising/lowering operators of L
z
What is string-net
z
L =0
Closed
Strings
Strings
Open
U
g,J
+
+ + +
+
+
+
+
+ +
+
Stringnet
z
L =1
z
L =1
Physical meaning of the three terms:
the U-term closed strings. Open ends cost energy.
J-term string tension
the g-term strings can uctuate
What is string-net condensation
U
/
g
J/g
Stringnet condensed
Higgs phase
Confined phase
|string-net condensed =

all closed-string-nets
|string-net
Fluctuations of condensed string-nets = U(1) gauge bosons
When U = , the rotor model can be mapped to U(1) lattice gauge
model, with
i
on link IJ as the U(1) gauge potential:

i
= a
IJ
,
i
I
J
IJ
For nite U and with other perturbations:
L
e
= L
U(1)
(a
IJ
) +
1
a
2
0
+
2
cos(a
IJ
)
Since a
IJ
=
i
is compact, the -terms do not generate a mass for the
U(1) gauge bosons, if
1,2
are small enough.
Gauge bosons and gauge symmetry can be emergent
Ends of open strings = gauge charges
Strings are unobservable in string condensed state.
Ends of strings behave like independent particles.
L
z
i

i
= a
IJ
correspond to electric eld/ux.
Ends of condensed strings are gauge charges
They also carry fractional rotor-angular momentum (L
z
= 1/2)
Can get fermions for free (almost) Levin & Wen 04
Just add some legs
6
5
3
4
1
2
a crossed leg
a leg
Dressed-string model:
H = U

I
Q
I
g

p
(B
p
+h.c.) +J

i
(L
z
i
)
2
B
p
= L
+
1
L

2
L
+
3
L

4
(1)
L
z
5
+L
z
6
Dierent ground state wave function for the string-net condensed
state
|string-net condensed =

all closed-string-nets
|string-net
which leads to dierent statistics for the ends of condensed strings.
String operators creation operators of gauge charges
A pair of gauge charges is created by an open string operator which
commute with the Hamiltonian except at its two ends.
Strings cost no energy and is unobservable.
leg
crossed leg
i
i+x
i+z
i+y
i
i+x
i+z
i+y
dressed string
C
In simple-string model simple-string operator
L
+
i
1
L

i
2
L
+
i
3
L

i
4
...
In dressed-string model dressed-string operator
(L
+
i
1
L

i
2
L
+
i
3
L

i
4
...)

i on crossed legs of C
(1)
L
z
i
A dressed-string operator creates a pair of fermions
The statistics is determined by particle hopping operators Levin & Wen
02:
a
b
c
d
b
c
a
d
1
2
3
4
5
a
d
b
a
d
c
b
c
t
bd
t
cb
t
ba
t
cb
t
ba
t
bd
t
cb
t
ba
t
bd
An open string operator is a hopping operator of the gauge charges.
Open string operator determine the statistics.
For simple-string model:

t
ba
= L
+
2
,

t
cb
= L

3
,

t
bd
= L
+
1
We nd

t
bd

t
cb

t
ba
=

t
ba

t
cb

t
bd
The ends of simple-string are bosons.
For dressed-string model:

t
ba
= ()
L
z
4
+L
z
1
L
+
2
,

t
cb
= ()
L
z
5
L

3
,

t
bd
= L
+
1
We nd

t
bd

t
cb

t
ba
=

t
ba

t
cb

t
bd
The ends of dressed-string are fermions.
What make fermions massless?
Consider the hopping Hamiltonian for a single end of string

H =

ij
(

t
ij
+h.c.)

H may realize translation symmetry only projectively.

The translation

T
(2)
a
of the two ends of a string satises the translation
algebra

T
(2)
a

T
(2)
b
=

T
(2)
b

T
(2)
a
, a, b = x, y, z
The translation

T
a
of the one ends of a string satises

T
a

T
b
=

T
b

T
a
, = 1
= 1 -ux through each square massless fermions
The string-net wave function (X) = (1)
N
X
given rise to the -ux,
where N
X
=number of spares enclosed by the closed string X.
Comparison with superstring theory
Superstring theory
gauge boson = small open string of size l
P
.
fermion comes from super world sheet (
1
,
2
,

).
graviton = small closed string of size l
P
.
Fermions do not have to carry gauge charges.
String-net theory
Every thing comes from local bosonic model locality principle
1. H
tot
= H
i
H
j
....
2. Local operator = operators acting within H
i
.
3. Hamiltonian = sum of local operators.
gauge boson = uctuations of large string-nets that ll the space.
fermion = one end of open string.
graviton = ???.
Fermions (including composite fermions) must carry gauge charges.
123 standard model is inconsistent with the locality principle.
SU(5) GUT is inconsistent with the locality principle.
But can be xed by including additional discrete (say Z
2
) gauge theory.
Prediction, cosmic string associated with the discrete gauge theory.
SO(10) GUT can be consistent with the locality principle.
Summary
Gauge interaction and Fermi statistics are just phenomena of quan-
tum interference in innity dimension many-body quantum entan-
glements.
No need to introduce gauge bosons and fermions by hand. They just
emerge if our vacuum has a string-net condensation.
Constructed spin model on cubic lattice that reproduce QED and
QCD Wen 03.
They are the U(1) and the SU(3) in the U(1) SU(2) SU(3) stan-
dard model.
But ... have trouble to get the chiral coupling of the SU(2).
Six fascinating properties of nature:
Identical particles Gauge interaction
Fermi statistics Massless fermions
Chiral fermions Gravity
The string-net condensation picture can explain four of them.
Four down and two more to go!
A picture of our vacuum
- a recipe for making an articial vacuum in condensed matter
A picture of our vacuum A stringnet theory of light and electrons
General string-net condensed wave functions Levin & Wen 04
Too hard to describe (X) = const. directly.
Indirect description:
Types of strings: 1, 2, ..., N. 0 represents no string.
Branching rule: Kogut & Susskind 75

ijk
= 1 (ijk) branching is allowed in ground state.

ijk
= 0 (ijk) branching is not allowed in ground state.
Topological: (X) = (X

) if two string-nets X and X

has the same

topology. Freedman etal 03
Rebranching relation and 6j-symbol:

_
_
i
k
l
m
j
_
_
=
N

n=0
F
ijm
kln

_
_
i
j
n
k
l
_
_
Topological string-net condensation is described by a set of data
(N,
ijk
, F
ijm
kln
)
Not all sets (N,
ijk
, F
ijm
kln
) describe consistent string-net condensation.
Moore & Seiberg 89
j l
m
q p
m m
j l
k
j l
k
m
j l j l
m
q
s r
p
n
n
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e)
r
k
k k
i
s
i i i
i
Pentagon identity

n
F
mlq
kp

n
F
jip
mns

F
js

n
lkr

= F
jip
q

kr

F
riq

mls

The solutions of the above non-linear equations (called tensor cate-

gories) describe all the string-net condensed state.
All string-net condensed states characterized by (N,
ijk
, F
ijm
kln
) can be
realized by exactly soluble lattice models with 12 spin interactions.
The low energy eective theories are topological theories, and almost
all the topological theories can be realized this way.
The 6-j symbol of a group G, satisfy the pentagon identity.
The uctuations of the corresponding string-net condensation
gauge boson with gauge group G.
The 6-j symbol of a quantum group

G, satisfy the pentagon identity.
The corresponding string-net condensation
doubled Chern-Simons theory.
Spins on Kagome lattice: L
i
= 0, 1, 2,
No string state = |L
i
= 0. Type-s string: string of L
i
= s spins
Exactly soluble Hamiltonian is obtained from the data (N,
ijk
, F
ijm
kln
)
i
p
I
H
strnet
= g

p
(1 B
p
) +U

I
(1 Q
I
), B
p
=
N

s=0
a
s
B
s
p
Q
I

a
c
b
_
=
abc

a
c
b
_
B
s
p

a
b c
e f
d
h
l
i
k
g
j
_
=

m,...,r
B
s,ghijkl
p,g

(abcdef)

a
b c
e f
d
k
l
i
h
g
j
_
B
s,ghijkl
p,g

(abcdef) = F
bg

h
s

F
ch

i
s

F
di

j
s

F
ej

k
s

F
fk

l
s

F
al

g
s

B
s
p
create a small loop of type-s string around hexagon p
B
s
p

a
g
b
h
c
i
d
j
e
k
f
l
_
=

f
k
e
j
d
i
c
h
b
g
a
l
s
_
=

F
bg

h
s

F
ch

i
s

F
di

j
s

F
ej

k
s

F
fk

l
s

F
al

g
s

a
b
h
c
i
d
j
e
k
f
l
g
_
(

s
a
s
B
s
p
, Q
I
) is a commuting set of operators. H
strnet
is exactly
soluble.
B
s
p
term generates string hopping. Q
I
term enforce the branching rule
in ground state.
Some examples from the solutions of the pentagon identity
Z
2
gauge theory
N = 1,
000
=
110
= 1,
100
= 0 (only closed strings), F
ijm
kln
leads to

_ _
=
_ _
,
_ _
=
_ _
The Hamiltonian
edge
leg

x
I
i
p
H
strnet
= g

edges of p

x
i
+U

legs of I

z
i
Ground state wave function (X) = const.
Eective theory: Z
2
gauge theory = U(1) U(1) Chern-Simons theory
L =
1
4
K
IJ
a
I

a
J

, K =
_
0 2
2 0
_
Doubled semion theory
N = 1,
000
=
110
= 1,
100
= 0 (only closed strings), F
ijm
kln
leads to

_ _
=
_ _
,
_ _
=
_ _
The Hamiltonian
edge
leg
leg

z
I
i
p
H
strnet
=

legs of I

z
i
+

p
(

edges of p

x
j
)(

legs of p
()
1
z
j
4
)
Ground state wave function (X) = ()
X
c
, where X
c
is the number
of loops in the string conguration X
Eective theory: U(1) U(1) Chern-Simons theory
L =
1
4
K
IJ
a
I

a
J

, K =
_
2 0
0 2
_
Ends of open strings Semions with = /2
Doubled Yang-Lee theory
N = 1,
000
=
110
=
111
= 1,
100
= 0 (branched string-nets),
F
ijm
kln
leads to

_ _
=
_ _

_ _
=
1

_ _
+
1/2

_ _

_ _
=
1/2

_ _

1

_ _
where =
1+

5
2
Ground state has a string-net condensation
Eective theory: SO
3
(3) SO
3
(3) Chern-Simons theory
Ends of open strings particles with non-Abelian statistics