String-net liquid: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:02, 29 May 2013

Revision as of 22:27, 22 September 2013

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{{Beyond the Standard Model|cTopic=[[Quantum gravity]]}}

In [[condensed matter physics]], a '''string-net''' is an extended object whose collective behavior has been proposed as a physical mechanism for [[topological order]] by [[Michael A. Levin]] and [[Xiao-Gang Wen]]. A particular string-net model may involve only closed loops; or networks of oriented, labeled strings obeying branching rules given by some [[gauge group]]; or still more general networks.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Levin, Michael A. and Xiao-Gang Wen |title=String-net condensation: A physical mechanism for topological phases |journal=Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics |volume=71 |issue=045110 |pages=21 |date=12 January 2005|arxiv=cond-mat/0404617 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevB.71.045110 |bibcode=2005PhRvB..71d5110L }}</ref>

Their model purports to show the derivation of photons, electrons, and U(1) gauge charge, small (relative to the [[planck mass]]) but nonzero masses, and suggestions that the [[leptons]], [[quarks]], and [[gluons]], can be modeled in the same way. In other words, string-net condensation provides an unification of [[photon]] and [[electron]] (or [[gauge bosons]] and [[fermions]]). It can be viewed as an origin of [[light]] and [[electron]] (or [[gauge bosons|gauge interactions]] and [[Fermi statistics]]).