This thesis revolves around a specific type of many body quantum systems, namely Z
2 lattice gauge theories in one and two spatial dimensions. Our original results shed light on aspects of confinement, topological phases, emergent integrability and exotic quantum criticality. From the methodological point of view, we develop a local mapping between Z
2 gauge theories with matter and gauge-invariant spin 1/2 systems. An historical introduction, which includes a review of relevant literature, is given.
«
This thesis revolves around a specific type of many body quantum systems, namely Z
2 lattice gauge theories in one and two spatial dimensions. Our original results shed light on aspects of confinement, topological phases, emergent integrability and exotic quantum criticality. From the methodological point of view, we develop a local mapping between Z
2 gauge theories with matter and gauge-invariant spin 1/2 systems. An historical introduction, which includes a review of relevant literature, is giv...
»