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Topological insulator of bosons in 3d via dyon condensation and the statistical Witten effect

In this talk, I will construct a symmetry protected topological phase of bosons in 3d with particle number conservation and time reversal symmetries, which is the direct bosonic analogue of the familiar electron topological insulator. The construction employs a parton decomposition of bosons, followed by condensation of parton-monopole composites. The surface of the resulting state supports a gapped symmetry respecting phase with intrinsic toric code topological order where both e and m anyons carry charge 1/2.

It is well-known that one signature of the 3d electron topological insulator is the Witten effect: if the system is coupled to a compact electromagnetic gauge eld, a monopole in the bulk acquires a half-odd-integer polarization charge. I will discuss the corresponding phenomenon for the constructed topological insulator of bosons: a monopole can remain electrically neutral, but its statistics are transmuted from bosonic to fermionic. This "statistical Witten effect" guarantees that the surface is either gapless, symmetry broken or carries an intrinsic topological order.