Finite-Temperature Screening of U(1) Fractons

Understand

We investigate the finite-temperature screening behavior of three-dimensional U(1) spin liquid phases with fracton excitations.

• Several features are shared with the conventional U(1) spin liquid.
• The system can exhibit spin liquid physics over macroscopic length scales at low temperatures, but screening effects eventually lead to a smooth finite-temperature crossover to a trivial phase at sufficiently large distances.
• However, unlike more conventional U(1) spin liquids, we find that complete low-temperature screening of fractons requires not only very large distances, but also very long timescales.