paper

A complex scalar field theory for charged fluids, superfluids, and fracton fluids

arXiv:2509.10602 · doi:10.1007/JHEP03(2026)134

Abstract

We propose a field-theoretic framework for ideal hydrodynamics of charged relativistic fluids formulated in terms of a complex scalar field defined on a spacelike hypersurface comoving with the fluid. In the normal phase, the dynamics of charge-carrying fluids is constrained by the restrictive chemical shift symmetry, which locks charges to fixed positions in the comoving plane as they are transported through space by the fluid's motion. On the other hand, in the superfluid phase, the chemical shift symmetry is relaxed to a constant shift, allowing charges to redistribute freely across the comoving hypersurface. We demonstrate that both models recover the respective nonlinear hydrodynamic equations and provide explicit expressions for the collective variables of hydrodynamics in terms of the theory's fields. Introduced models provide a UV completion to the effective field theories of hydrodynamics constructed in terms of the Goldstone fields. Finally, we propose a relativistic fracton fluid phase as a natural interpolation between the normal and superfluid phases, in which the mobility of elementary charges is constrained by a linear shift symmetry in the comoving space.

arXiv comment33 pages; published version

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