Foliated order parameter in a fracton phase transition

Abstract

Finding suitable indicators for characterizing quantum phase transitions plays an important role in understanding different phases of matter. It is especially important for fracton phases where a combination of topology and fractionalization leads to exotic features not seen in other known quantum phases. In this paper, we consider the above problem by studying phase transition in the X-cube model in the presence of a nonlinear perturbation. Using an analysis of the ground state fidelity and identifying a discontinuity in the global entanglement, we show there is a first-order quantum phase transition from a type-I fracton phase with a highly entangled nature to a magnetized phase. Accordingly, we conclude that the global entanglement, as a measure of the total quantum correlations in the ground state, can well capture certain features of fracton phase transitions. Then, we introduce a nonlocal order parameter in the form of a foliated operator which can characterize the above phase transition. We particularly show that such an order parameter has a geometric nature which captures specific differences of fracton phases with topological phases. Our study is specifically based on a well-known dual mapping to the classical plaquette Ising model where it shows the importance of such dualities in studying different quantum phases of matter.