Sal Pace

Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at Princeton

I’m a theoretical physicist studying the laws of quantum physics. My research focuses on uncovering the organizing principles underlying highly entangled, strongly interacting quantum systems and exploring their implications for condensed matter, quantum information, and high-energy physics. My current work uses symmetry principles to clarify the relationship between quantum field theories and quantum lattice systems, and to classify, constrain, and characterize patterns of quantum entanglement and phases of quantum matter.

I received my PhD in physics from MIT in 2026 under the supervision of Xiao-Gang Wen. Previously, I earned an MPhil in physics from the University of Cambridge in 2021 as a Churchill Scholar and a BA/MA in physics from Boston University in 2020.

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Portrait of Sal Pace

A note to students

I encourage students at all stages interested in theoretical physics to reach out—especially those wondering about nonbinary or queer life in physics!

Papers

Recent work, followed
by the full archive.

  1. Lattice 2-group symmetries: operators, defects, and gauging

    Lucas Z. Brito and SP

    arXiv:2609.10682 — Lattice 2-group symmetries: operators, defects, and gauging (opens in a new tab)

  2. Infinite-Order Lattice Chiral Anomalies and CPT

    Elijah Lew-Smith, SP, and Shu-Heng Shao

    arXiv:2606.12510 — Infinite-Order Lattice Chiral Anomalies and CPT (opens in a new tab)

  3. Lieb-Schultz-Mattis constraints from stratified anomalies of modulated symmetries

    SP and Daniel Bulmash

    arXiv:2602.11266 — Lieb-Schultz-Mattis constraints from stratified anomalies of modulated symmetries (opens in a new tab)

  4. Symmetry-enforced Fermi surfaces

    Minho Luke Kim, SP, and Shu-Heng Shao

    arXiv:2512.04150 — Symmetry-enforced Fermi surfaces (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. Lett. 136 176502 (2026) — Symmetry-enforced Fermi surfaces (opens in a new tab)

  5. Spacetime symmetry-enriched SymTFT: from LSM anomalies to modulated symmetries and beyond

    SP, Ömer M. Aksoy, and Ho Tat Lam

    arXiv:2507.02036 — Spacetime symmetry-enriched SymTFT: from LSM anomalies to modulated symmetries and beyond (opens in a new tab) SciPost Phys. 20, 007 (2026) — Spacetime symmetry-enriched SymTFT: from LSM anomalies to modulated symmetries and beyond (opens in a new tab)
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  1. Parity Anomaly from a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis Theorem: Exact Valley Symmetries on the Lattice

    SP, Minho Luke Kim, Arkya Chatterjee, and Shu-Heng Shao

    arXiv:2505.04684 — Parity Anomaly from a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis Theorem: Exact Valley Symmetries on the Lattice (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 236501 (2025) — Parity Anomaly from a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis Theorem: Exact Valley Symmetries on the Lattice (opens in a new tab)

  2. Lattice T-duality from non-invertible symmetries in quantum spin chains

    SP, Arkya Chatterjee, and Shu-Heng Shao

    arXiv:2412.18606 — Lattice T-duality from non-invertible symmetries in quantum spin chains (opens in a new tab) SciPost Phys. 18, 121 (2025) — Lattice T-duality from non-invertible symmetries in quantum spin chains (opens in a new tab)

  3. (SPT-)LSM theorems from projective non-invertible symmetries

    SP, Ho Tat Lam, and Ömer M. Aksoy

    arXiv:2409.18113 — (SPT-)LSM theorems from projective non-invertible symmetries (opens in a new tab) SciPost Phys. 18, 028 (2025) — (SPT-)LSM theorems from projective non-invertible symmetries (opens in a new tab)

  4. Quantized axial charge of staggered fermions and the chiral anomaly

    Arkya Chatterjee, SP, and Shu-Heng Shao

    arXiv:2409.12220 — Quantized axial charge of staggered fermions and the chiral anomaly (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 021601 (2025) — Quantized axial charge of staggered fermions and the chiral anomaly (opens in a new tab)

  5. Gauging modulated symmetries: Kramers-Wannier dualities and non-invertible reflections

    SP, Guilherme Delfino, Ho Tat Lam, and Ömer M. Aksoy

    arXiv:2406.12962 — Gauging modulated symmetries: Kramers-Wannier dualities and non-invertible reflections (opens in a new tab) SciPost Phys. 18, 021 (2025) — Gauging modulated symmetries: Kramers-Wannier dualities and non-invertible reflections (opens in a new tab)

  6. Topological aspects of brane fields: Solitons and higher-form symmetries

    SP and Yu Leon Liu

    arXiv:2311.09293 — Topological aspects of brane fields: Solitons and higher-form symmetries (opens in a new tab) SciPost Phys. 16, 128 (2024) — Topological aspects of brane fields: Solitons and higher-form symmetries (opens in a new tab)

  7. Generalized symmetries in singularity-free nonlinear σ models and their disordered phases

    SP, Chenchang Zhu, Agnès Beaudry, and Xiao-Gang Wen

    arXiv:2310.08554 — Generalized symmetries in singularity-free nonlinear σ models and their disordered phases (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. B 110, 195149 (2024) — Generalized symmetries in singularity-free nonlinear σ models and their disordered phases (opens in a new tab)

  8. Emergent generalized symmetries in ordered phases and applications to quantum disordering

    SP

    arXiv:2308.05730 — Emergent generalized symmetries in ordered phases and applications to quantum disordering (opens in a new tab) SciPost Phys. 17, 080 (2024) — Emergent generalized symmetries in ordered phases and applications to quantum disordering (opens in a new tab)

  9. Exact emergent higher-form symmetries in bosonic lattice models

    SP and Xiao-Gang Wen

    arXiv:2301.05261 — Exact emergent higher-form symmetries in bosonic lattice models (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. B 108, 195147 (2023) — Exact emergent higher-form symmetries in bosonic lattice models (opens in a new tab)

  10. Aspects of ℤN rank-2 gauge theory in (2 + 1) dimensions: Construction schemes, holonomies, and sublattice one-form symmetries

    Yun-Tak Oh, SP, Jung Hoon Han, Yizhi You, and Hyun-Yong Lee

    arXiv:2301.04706 — Aspects of ℤ N rank-2 gauge theory in (2 + 1) dimensions: Construction schemes, holonomies, and sublattice one-form symmetries (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. B 107, 155151 (2023) — Aspects of ℤ N rank-2 gauge theory in (2 + 1) dimensions: Construction schemes, holonomies, and sublattice one-form symmetries (opens in a new tab)

  11. Emergent higher-symmetry protected topological orders in the confined phase of U(1) gauge theory

    SP and Xiao-Gang Wen

    arXiv:2207.03544 — Emergent higher-symmetry protected topological orders in the confined phase of U(1) gauge theory (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. B 107, 075112 (2023) — Emergent higher-symmetry protected topological orders in the confined phase of U(1) gauge theory (opens in a new tab)

  12. Position-dependent excitations and UV/IR mixing in the ℤN rank-2 toric code and its low-energy effective field theory

    SP and Xiao-Gang Wen

    arXiv:2204.07111 — Position-dependent excitations and UV/IR mixing in the ℤ N rank-2 toric code and its low-energy effective field theory (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. B 106, 045145 (2022) — Position-dependent excitations and UV/IR mixing in the ℤ N rank-2 toric code and its low-energy effective field theory (opens in a new tab)

  13. Dynamical Axions in U(1) Quantum Spin Liquids

    SP, Claudio Castelnovo, and Chris R. Laumann

    arXiv:2109.06890 — Dynamical Axions in U(1) Quantum Spin Liquids (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 076701 (2023) — Dynamical Axions in U(1) Quantum Spin Liquids (opens in a new tab)

  14. Emergent Fine Structure Constant of Quantum Spin Ice Is Large

    SP, Siddhardh C. Morampudi, Roderich Moessner, and Chris R. Laumann

    arXiv:2009.04499 — Emergent Fine Structure Constant of Quantum Spin Ice Is Large (opens in a new tab) Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 117205 (2021) — Emergent Fine Structure Constant of Quantum Spin Ice Is Large (opens in a new tab)

  15. The β Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou Recurrence Problem

    SP, Kevin A. Reiss, and David K. Campbell

    arXiv:1908.00564 — The β Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou Recurrence Problem (opens in a new tab) Chaos 29, 113107 (2019) — The β Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou Recurrence Problem (opens in a new tab)

  16. Behavior and breakdown of higher-order Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou recurrences

    SP and David K. Campbell

    arXiv:1811.00663 — Behavior and breakdown of higher-order Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou recurrences (opens in a new tab) Chaos 29, 023132 (2019) — Behavior and breakdown of higher-order Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou recurrences (opens in a new tab)

Invited talks

Slides, notes,
and recordings.

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