In this paper, the authors use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to find two dimerized phases, connected by a continuous phase transition. The interpretation of the latter in terms of deconfined quantum criticality explains the observed physics beyond the traditional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. In contrast to related spin models with frustration, the competition between two orders is here solely driven by the degree of retardation of the phonon-mediated interaction.
In this paper, the authors use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to find two dimerized phases, connected by a continuous phase transition. The interpretation of the latter in terms of deconfined quantum criticality explains the observed physics beyond the traditional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. In contrast to related spin models with frustration, the competition between two orders is here solely driven by the degree of retardation of the phonon-mediated interaction.
The authors study here a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model on a square lattice by auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo. A novel approach allows analytical integration over the phonons, considerably reducing autocorrelation times and allowing investigation of new regions of the phase diagram. By varying the strength of the direct hopping at the O(4) symmetric point, they discover novel phases in this textbook model. In particular, for small values of the direct hopping, they observe emergent orthogonal Dirac fermions, with an exotic quantum phase transition akin to deconfined quantum criticality.
There is a number of contradictory findings with regard to whether the theory describing easy-plane quantum antiferromagnets undergoes a second-order phase transition. The traditional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson approach suggests a first-order phase transition, as there are two different competing order parameters. On the other hand, it is known that the theory has the property of self-duality which has been connected to the existence of a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP). The latter regime suggests that order parameters are not the elementary building blocks of the theory, but rather consist of fractionalized particles that are confined in both phases of the transition and only appear-deconfine-at the critical point. Nevertheless, many numerical Monte Carlo simulations disagree with the claim of a DQCP in the system, indicating instead a first-order phase transition. Here we establish from exact lattice duality transformations and renormalization group analysis that the easy-plane CP^{1} antiferromagnet does feature a DQCP. We uncover the criticality starting from a regime analogous to the zero temperature limit of a certain classical statistical mechanics system which we therefore dub frozen. At criticality our bosonic theory is dual to a fermionic one with two massless Dirac fermions, which thus undergoes a second-order phase transition as well.
The Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson (LGW) paradigm is the backbone of the modern understanding of critical phenoma. It rests on the assumption that a continuous phase transition can be described solely in terms of a fluctuating order parameter. In this sandwich thesis, we analyze several quantum phase transitions in two-dimensional systems where this basic assumption is violated. Our analysis is structured in three parts: In the first part, two ordering transitions in metals are studied, where the presence of gapless fermionic modes invalidates the pure order parameter description. Instead, we apply a renormalization group approach which retains both fermionic and bosonic (order paramater) degrees of freedom, using the deviation from an upper critical dimension of d = 5/2 as a control parameter. We first apply this technique to describe the quantum phase transition between a normal metal and an inhomogeneous (FFLO) superconductor. Our analysis rigorously confirms the mean field expectation that this transition is continuous, and shows that interesting non-Fermi liquid physics can arise at the critical point, manifesting itself in unusual scaling of various observables. The second case study is the onset of incommensurate 2kF charge density wave order. While non-Fermi liquid features are less pronounced at this transition, we find a strong dynamical nesting of the Fermi surface, which stabilizes the density wave formation and results in a continuous transition, opposed to early theoretical claims. In the second part, we present a novel case study of “deconfined criticality” for a quantum magnet: Here, symmetries are broken on both sides of the phase transition, which would be first order within a conventional two-order-parameter LGW description. By contrast, the scenario of deconfined criticality predicts a continuous transition, driven by condensation of topological defects which carry quantum numbers of the opposite phase. Its paradigmatic application is the transition from a SU (2)-Neél state to a valence-bond solid (a singlet covering configuration that breaks spatial symmetries) on the square lattice. Here, we propose a novel extension and study a SU (3) antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice, which supports a transition between a magnetic, three-sublattice color-ordered phase and a trimerized SU (3) singlet phase. We provide a critical theory in terms of fractional bosonic degrees of freedom (and with a topological defect interpretation), and study its fixed point properties with functional renormalization group. This yields a critical fixed point in a suitable large-N -limit, implying a continuous transition in accordance with the deconfined criticality framework. In the third and final part, we study the “polaron”-problem of a single impurity coupled to a majority Fermi sea, which is particularly interesting when formation of a bound state (“molecule”) between impurity and majority is allowed for. Starting from the exactly solvable limit of infinite impurity mass, we present a controlled computation of impurity spectra (both single- and two-particle) for heavy impurities based on Feynman diagram techniques, with an eye for experiments on doped semiconductors and ultracold gases. Furthermore, we discuss various aspects of the “molecule-to-polaron” transition that occurs in these systems, which also defies a simple LGW description in the single-impurity limit.
Direct continuous quantum phase transitions between phases that break distinct symmetries challenge the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm and provide a framework for deconfined quantum criticality. Here, we investigate a Landau-forbidden ferromagnetic-to-valence-bond-solid (FM-VBS) transition in a frustrated one-dimensional spin chain using superconducting quantum processors. Combining matrix-product-state-assisted circuit preparation with quantum-hardware measurements, we resolve the suppression of long-range ferromagnetic correlations and the redistribution of competing-order fluctuations across the transition. Distance-resolved correlations and finite-size analyses reveal signatures consistent with critical behavior. We further extend our investigation to nonequilibrium dynamics, directly preparing dimerized states and tracking the evolution of VBS order and joint FM-VBS fluctuations under local unitary interactions. Our results establish a versatile quantum-hardware framework for probing competing orders, critical correlations, and many-body dynamics beyond conventional Landau theory.
Monte Carlo study of the deconfined critical action phase diagram reveals a region where spinon deconfinement occurs through a weak first-order phase transition, in agreement with Ginzburg- Landau theory. Wilson renormalization argument in combination with the absence of the data collapse even in the regime of weak interaction between the spinons casts a serious doubt on the possibility of the continuous deconfinement transition. We also argue that if a continuous deconfined criticality does exist on the phase diagram, its nature is analogous, in a certain precise sense, to that of the XY universality class
Monte Carlo study of the deconfined critical action phase diagram reveals a region where spinon deconfinement occurs through a weak first-order phase transition, in agreement with Ginzburg-Landau theory. Wilson renormalization argument in combination with the absence of the data collapse even in the regime of weak interaction between the spinons casts a serious doubt on the possibility of the continuous deconfinement transition. We also argue that if a continuous deconfined criticality does exist on the phase diagram, its nature is analogous, in a certain precise sense, to that of the XY universality class.