Non-Abelian Fracton Order: a TQFT perspective

Fracton phases exhibit striking behaviour which appears to render them beyond the standard topological quantum field theory (TQFT) paradigm. In this talk, I will discuss progress towards understanding fracton order from the perspective of TQFTs, focusing primarily on non-Abelian fracton models, which host non-Abelian particles with restricted mobility in three spatial dimensions. In particular, I will present topological defect networks – networks of topological defects embedded in stratified 3+1D TQFTs – as a new, unified framework for describing gapped fracton orders.