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arXiv:2108.11273 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Scaling theory of the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition

Zhi-Yao Zuo, Shuai Yin, Xuanmin Cao, Fan Zhong

Published Dec 22, 2021• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose a series of scaling theories for Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transitions on the basis of the hallmark exponential growth of their correlation length. Finite-size scaling, finite-entanglement scaling, short-time critical dynamics, and finite-time scaling, as well as some of their interplay, are considered. Relaxation times of both a normal power-law and an anomalous power-law with a logarithmic factor are studied. Finite-size and finite-entanglement scaling forms somehow similar to but different from a frequently employed ansatz are presented. The Kibble-Zurek scaling of topological defect density for a linear driving across the KT transition point is investigated in detail. An implicit equation for a rate exponent in the theory is derived, and the exponent varies with the distance from the critical point and the driving rate consistent with relevant experiments. To verify the theories, we utilize the KT phase transition of a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model. The infinite time-evolving-block-decimation algorithm is employed to solve numerically the model for finite bond dimensions. Both a correlation length and an entanglement entropy in imaginary time and only the entanglement entropy in real-time driving are computed. Both the short-time critical dynamics in imaginary time and the finite-time scaling in real-time driving, both including the finite bond dimension, for the measured quantities are found to describe the numerical results quite well via surface collapses. The critical point is also estimated and confirmed to be 0.302(1) at the infinite bond dimension on the basis of the scaling theories.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.104.214108

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We propose a series of scaling theories for Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transitions on the basis of the hallmark exponential growth of their correlation length. Finite-size scaling, finite-entanglement scaling, short-time critical dynamics, and finite-time scaling, as well as some of their interplay, are considered. Relaxation times of both a normal power-law and an anomalous power-law with a logarithmic factor are studied. Finite-size and finite-entanglement scaling forms somehow similar to but different from a frequently employed ansatz are presented. The Kibble-Zurek scaling of topological defect density for a linear driving across the KT transition point is investigated in detail. An implicit equation for a rate exponent in the theory is derived, and the exponent varies with the distance from the critical point and the driving rate consistent with relevant experiments. To verify the theories, we utilize the KT phase transition of a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model. The infinite time-evolving-block-decimation algorithm is employed to solve numerically the model for finite bond dimensions. Both a correlation length and an entanglement entropy in imaginary time and only the entanglement entropy in real-time driving are computed. Both the short-time critical dynamics in imaginary time and the finite-time scaling in real-time driving, both including the finite bond dimension, for the measured quantities are found to describe the numerical results quite well via surface collapses. The critical point is also estimated and confirmed to be 0.302(1) at the infinite bond dimension on the basis of the scaling theories.
Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) uses critical scaling to predict density of topological defects and other excitations created in second order phase transitions. We point out that simply inserting asymptotic critical exponents deduced from the immediate vicinity of the critical point to obtain KZM predictions can lead to results that are inconsistent with a more careful KZM-like analysis based on causality -- on the comparison of the relaxation time of the order parameter with the time "distance" from the critical point. As a result, scaling of quench-generated excitations with quench rates can exhibit behavior that is locally (i.e., in the neighborhood of any given quench rate) well approximated by the power law, but with exponents that depend on that rate, and that are quite different from the naive prediction based on the critical exponents relevant for asymptotically long quench times. Kosterlitz-Thouless scaling (that governs e.g. Mott insulator to superfluid transition in the Bose-Hubbard model in one dimension) is investigated as an example of this phenomenon.
Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) uses critical scaling to predict density of topological defects and other excitations created in second order phase transitions. We point out that simply inserting asymptotic critical exponents deduced from the immediate vicinity of the critical point to obtain predictions can lead to results that are inconsistent with a more careful KZM analysis based on causality - on the comparison of the relaxation time of the order parameter with the "time distance" from the critical point. As a result, scaling of quench-generated excitations with quench rates can exhibit behavior that is locally (i.e., in the neighborhood of any given quench rate) well approximated by the power law, but with exponents that depend on that rate, and that are quite different from the naive prediction based on the critical exponents relevant for asymptotically long quench times. Kosterlitz-Thouless scaling (that governs e.g. Mott insulator to superfluid transition in the Bose-Hubbard model in one dimension) is investigated as an example of this phenomenon.
We propose a unified scaling theory of entanglement entropy in the confinements of finite bond dimensions, dynamics, and system sizes. In the theory, the recently introduced finite-entanglement scaling is generalized to the dynamics subjected to a linear driving along with a finite system size. Competition among the three scales as well as the correlation length of the system is analyzed in detail. Interesting regimes and their complicated crossovers together with their characteristics follow naturally. The theory is verified by time-evolving-block-decimation-based numerical simulations in the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model under a linear driving.
The Kibble-Zurek (KZ) mechanism has been applied to a variety of systems ranging from low-temperature Bose-Einstein condensations to grand unification scales in particle physics and cosmology and from classical phase transitions to quantum phase transitions. Here, we show that finite-time scaling (FTS) provides a detailed improved understanding of the mechanism. In particular, the finite time scale, which is introduced by the external driving (or quenching) and results in FTS, is the origin of the division of the adiabatic regimes from the impulse regime in the KZ mechanism. The origin of the KZ scaling for the defect density, generated during the driving through a critical point, is not that the correlation length ceases growing in the nonadiabatic impulse regime, but rather, is that it is taken over by the effective finite length scale corresponding to the finite time scale. We also show that FTS accounts well for and improves the scaling ansatz proposed recently by Liu, Polkovnikov, and Sandvik, [Phys. Rev. B 89, 054307 (2014)]. Further, we show that their universal power-law scaling form applies only to some observables in cooling but not to heating. Even in cooling, it is invalid either when an appropriate external field is present. However, this finite-time-finite-size scaling calls for caution in application of FTS. Detailed scaling behaviors of the FTS and finite-size scaling, along with their crossover, are explicitly demonstrated, with the dynamic critical exponent zzz being estimated for two- and three-dimensional Ising models under the usual Metropolis dynamics. These values of zzz are found to give rise to better data collapses than the extant values do in most cases but take on different values in heating and cooling in both two- and three-dimensional spaces.
We propose a scaling theory for the many-body localization (MBL) phase transition in one dimension, building on the idea that it proceeds via a ``quantum avalanche.'' We argue that the critical properties can be captured at a coarse-grained level by a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) renormalization group (RG) flow. On phenomenological grounds, we identify the scaling variables as the density of thermal regions and the length scale that controls the decay of typical matrix elements. Within this KT picture, the MBL phase is a line of fixed points that terminates at the delocalization transition. We discuss two possible scenarios distinguished by the distribution of rare, fractal thermal inclusions within the MBL phase. In the first scenario, these regions have a stretched exponential distribution in the MBL phase. In the second scenario, the near-critical MBL phase hosts rare thermal regions that are power-law-distributed in size. This points to the existence of a second transition within the MBL phase, at which these power laws change to the stretched exponential form expected at strong disorder. We numerically simulate two different phenomenological RGs previously proposed to describe the MBL transition. Both RGs display a universal power-law length distribution of thermal regions at the transition with a critical exponent ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{c}=2$, and continuously varying exponents in the MBL phase consistent with the KT picture.
We investigate the out of equilibrium dynamics of the two-dimensional XY model when cooled across the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless (BKT) phase transition using different protocols. We focus on the evolution of the growing correlation length and the density of topological defects (vortices). By using Monte Carlo simulations we first determine the time and temperature dependence of the growing correlation length after an infinitely rapid quench from above the transition temperature to the quasi-long-range order region. The functional form is consistent with a logarithmic correction to the diffusive law and it serves to validate dynamic scaling in this problem. This analysis clarifies the different dynamic roles played by bound and free vortices. We then revisit the Kibble–Zurek mechanism in thermal phase transitions in which the disordered state is plagued with topological defects. We provide a theory of quenching rate dependence in systems with the BKT-type transition that goes beyond the equilibrium scaling arguments. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for a host of physical systems with vortex excitations, including planar ferromagnets and liquid crystals.