Kinematic foundations of defect-mediated plasticity: A gauge-theoretic framework
Phys. Rev. B 114, 194103 – Published 7 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/gswz-7ksz
Abstract
Plastic deformation is widely regarded as an intrinsically dissipative phenomenon whose theoretical description relies heavily on phenomenological constitutive assumptions. We argue instead that defect-mediated plasticity possesses a universal, nondissipative backbone: the kinematics and mobility constraints of defects are fixed by symmetry and conservation laws prior to dissipation. Starting from the spontaneous breaking of spacetime symmetries in a crystalline phase, we construct an effective field theory in which elasticity reorganizes into a coupled higher-rank tensor-vector gauge structure emerging directly from stress and defect conservation laws rather than being postulated microscopically. Dislocations, disclinations, and singular frame-geometric configurations appear as gauge sources whose coupled continuity equations and mobility constraints follow from generalized Gauss laws. The construction provides a symmetry-based organization of the kinematic sectors relevant to defect-mediated plasticity and a starting point for a subsequent dissipative theory of defect motion and stress relaxation.
