Coloring in anyon superconductivity
arXiv:2607.19470
Abstract
The recently observed signatures of superconductivity proximate to a fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) state in a twisted MoTe bilayer has revitalized interest in quantum phases of matter induced by anyon dynamics. Here we show how a panoply of anyon-driven phases associated with doping the lattice FQAH state can be realized as competing instabilities of a Fermi surface of charge- ``quarks'' coupled to a Chern-Simons gauge field, which is dual to the more conventional Chern-Simons-Ginzburg-Landau theory of quasiholes. For example, a range of electronic superconductors emerge from \emph{color superconductivity}, under which the Fermi surface experiences a pairing instability mediated by gauge fluctuations. These include SC phases -- where superconductivity coexists with topological order -- as well as topological superconductors displaying half-integer chiral central charges when the quarks are weakly paired. One example is a ``color-valley-locked'' superconductor, a topological analogue of the color superconductor familiar in quantum chromodynamics. On the other hand, both superconducting and non-Fermi liquid phases can emerge when the quarks form an itinerant ferromagnet, polarizing the Fermi surface to a particular combination of colors. Finally, our framework naturally accommodates the possibility of anyonic bound state formation, allowing access to phases induced by doping anyons of charge as opposed to within the same model. Our work unifies many earlier proposed anyonic phases as instabilities of a single parent \emph{quark metal} phase, distilling their emergence into a competition between superconductivity and itinerant color ferromagnetism.
70 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, 6 appendices. We are grateful to Zheng-Duo Fan, Ashvin Vishwanath, and Zijian Wang for pointing out an error in the originally posted version of the manuscript. Section 3 and Appendix F have been revised along with other minor revisions