G-Crossed Modularity of Symmetry Enriched Topological Phases

The universal properties of (2+1)D topological phases of matter enriched by a symmetry group G are described by G-crossed extensions of unitary modular tensor categories (UMTCs). While the fusion and braiding properties of quasiparticles associated with the topological order are described by a UMTC, the G-crossed extensions further capture the properties of the symmetry action, fractionalization, and defects arising from the interplay of the symmetry with the topological order. We describe the relation between the G-crossed UMTC and the topological state spaces on general surfaces that may include symmetry defect branch lines and boundaries that carry topological charge. We define operators in terms of the G-crossed UMTC data that represent the mapping class transformations for such states on a torus with one boundary, and show that these operators provide projective representations of the mapping class groups. This allows us to represent the mapping class group on general surfaces and ensures a consistent description of the corresponding symmetry enriched topological phases on general surfaces. Our analysis also enables us to prove that a faithful G-crossed extension of a UMTC is necessarily G-crossed modular.

Automated summary

The universal properties of (2+1)D topological phases of matter enriched by a symmetry group G are described by G-crossed extensions of unitary modular tensor categories (UMTCs). These extensions capture the properties of the symmetry action, fractionalization, and defects arising from the interplay of the symmetry with the topological order. The relation between the G-crossed UMTC and the topological state spaces on general surfaces is described, and the projective representations of the mapping class groups are discussed.