A post-Gaussian approach to dipole symmetries and interacting fractons

Abstract

We use a post-Gaussian variational approach to non-perturbatively study a general class of interacting bosonic quantum field theories with generalized dipole symmetries and fractonic behavior. We find that while a Gaussian approach allows to carry out a consistent renormalization group (RG) flow analysis of these theories, this only grasps the interaction terms associated with the longitudinal motion of dipoles, which is consistent with previous analysis using large N techniques. Remarkably, our post-Gaussian proposal, by providing a variational improved effective potential, can capture the transverse part of the interaction between dipoles in such a way that a non-trivial RG flow for this term is obtained and analyzed. Our results suggest that dipole symmetries that manifest due to the strong coupling of dipoles, may robustly emerge at low energies from short-distance models without that symmetry.