Abstract
When translational symmetry is broken in the ground state, the homotopy theory of defects of ordered media has to be supplemented with integrability conditions, coming from the theory of foliations. These show how some homotopy classes split into several distinct defects, while other homotopy classes do not occur physically. This framework can also be used in order to discuss defects of gauge fields, where in a first approximation classifying spaces play the role of the manifolds of internal states.
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Communicated by A. Jaffe
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Poénaru, V. Some aspects of the theory of defects of ordered media and gauge fields related to foliations. Commun.Math. Phys. 80, 127–136 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01213598
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01213598