ICTS

Symmetry-protected-topological (SPT) phases are a class of recently discovered gapped phases of matter that depend on global symmetries for their existence in a crucial way. They are characterized both theoretically and experimentally by the existence of some form of non-trivial boundary phenomena due to the presence of an anomaly. I will describe ongoing work concerning a particular manifestation of the non-trivial boundary- the emergence of new symmetries that are absent in the bulk. Particularly exciting are fermionic SPT phases, where, these emergent symmetries form a rudimentary type of supersymmetry!