We study the edge physics of the deconfined quantum phase transition (DQCP) between a spontaneous quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator and a spin-singlet superconductor (SC). Although the bulk of this transition is in the same universality class as the paradigmatic deconfined Neel to valence-bond-solid transition, the boundary physics has a richer structure due to proximity to a quantum spin Hall state. We use the parton trick to write down an effective field theory for the QSH-SC transition in the presence of a boundary. We calculate various edge properties in an N\to\infty N → ∞ limit. We show that the boundary Luttinger liquid in the QSH state survives at the phase transition, but only as ``fractional’’ degrees of freedom that carry charge but not spin. The physical fermion remains gapless on the edge at the critical point, with a universal jump in the fermion scaling dimension as the system approaches the transition from the QSH side. The critical point could be viewed as a gapless analogue of the quantum spin Hall state but with the full SU(2) S U ( 2 ) spin rotation symmetry, which cannot be realized if the bulk is gapped.
We study the edge physics of the deconfined quantum phase transition (DQCP) between a spontaneous quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator and a spin-singlet superconductor (SC). Although the bulk of this transition is in the same universality class as the paradigmatic deconfined Neel to valence-bond-solid transition, the boundary physics has a richer structure due to proximity to a quantum spin Hall state. We use the parton trick to write down an effective field theory for the QSH-SC transition in the presence of a boundary. We calculate various edge properties in an N\to\infty N → ∞ limit. We show that the boundary Luttinger liquid in the QSH state survives at the phase transition, but only as ``fractional’’ degrees of freedom that carry charge but not spin. The physical fermion remains gapless on the edge at the critical point, with a universal jump in the fermion scaling dimension as the system approaches the transition from the QSH side. The critical point could be viewed as a gapless analogue of the quantum spin Hall state but with the full SU(2) S U ( 2 ) spin rotation symmetry, which cannot be realized if the bulk is gapped.
We perform a numerical study of a spin-1/2 model with ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ symmetry in one dimension which demonstrates an interesting similarity to the physics of two-dimensional deconfined quantum critical points (DQCP). Specifically, we investigate the quantum phase transition between Ising ferromagnetic and valence bond solid (VBS) symmetry-breaking phases. Working directly in the thermodynamic limit using uniform matrix product states, we find evidence for a direct continuous phase transition that lies outside of the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. In our model, the continuous transition is found everywhere on the phase boundary. We find that the magnetic and VBS correlations show very close power-law exponents, which is expected from the self-duality of the parton description of this DQCP. Critical exponents vary continuously along the phase boundary in a manner consistent with the predictions of the field theory for this transition. We also find a regime where the phase boundary splits, as suggested by the theory, introducing an intermediate phase of coexisting ferromagnetic and VBS order parameters. Interestingly, we discover a transition involving this coexistence phase which is similar to the DQCP, being also disallowed by the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson symmetry-breaking theory.
Recent years have seen a growing appreciation for the effects of quantum critical fluctuations on gapless boundary degrees of freedom. Here we consider the boundary dynamics of the non-compact \mathbb{CP}^{N-1} ℂ ℙ N − 1 (NCCP ^{N-1} N − 1 ) model in two spatial dimensions, with N N complex boson species coupled to a fluctuating \mathrm{U}(1) U ( 1 ) gauge field. These models describe quantum phase transitions beyond the Landau paradigm, such as the deconfined quantum critical point between superconducting (SC) and quantum spin Hall (QSH) phases. We show that, in a large- N N limit and with the bulk tuned to criticality, boundaries of the NCCP ^{N-1} N − 1 model display logarithmically decaying, or “extraordinary-log”, correlations. In particular, when monopole operators exhibit quasi-long-ranged order at the boundary, we find that the extraordinary-log exponent of the NCCP ^{N-1} N − 1 model in the large- N N limit is q=N/4 q = N / 4 , signifying a new family of boundary universality classes parameterized by N N . In the context of the QSH – SC transition, the quantum critical point inherits helical edge modes from the QSH phase, and this extraordinary-log behavior manifests in their Cooper pair correlations.
The thermodynamic and dynamical properties of a model of Dirac fermions with a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) separating an interaction-generated quantum spin Hall insulator from an s-wave superconductor [Liu et al., Nat. Commun. 10, 2658 (2019)] are studied using quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Inside the deconfined quantum critical region bound by the single-particle gap, spinons and spinless charge-2e skyrmions emerge. Since the model conserves total spin and charge, and has a single length scale, these excitations lead to a characteristic linear temperature dependence of the uniform spin and charge susceptibilities. At the DQCP, the order parameter dynamic structure factors show remarkable similarities that support emergent Lorentz symmetry. Above a critical temperature, superconductivity is destroyed by the proliferation of spin-1/2 vortices.
The deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) -- the enigmatic incarnation of the quantum phase transition beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm of symmetries and their spontaneous breaking -- has been proposed and actively pursued for more than two decades. Various 2D quantum many-body lattice models, both in spin/boson and fermion representations have been tested with the state-of-the-art numerical techniques and field-theoretical analyses, and yet, the conclusion is still controversial. Experimental realizations of DQCP in the quantum magnet SrCu2(BO3)2 and superconducting quantum criticality in 2D material have either shown first order transition or intermediate phase. The tension between the lattice scale details and the requirement from continuum limit, manifested in the form of the inconsistent critical scaling behavior and violations of generic conformal bootstrap bound, has not been resolved. Here we solve these decades-long controversies from the new and fundamental perspective of the quantum entanglement. We develop the incremental algorithm to compute the entanglement entropy at a fermionic DQCP with unprecedentedly accurate data and reveal the universal coefficient of the logarithmic correction therein is negative and at odds with positivity requirement of the conformal field theory. Together with results in other 2D DQCP lattice models (both in fermion and spin systems), our discoveries clearly demonstrate the 2D SU(2) antiferromagnet to valence bond solid DQCPs are not conformal fixed point and naturally explain the experimental difficulties in finding them. This marks the end of the beginning of unambiguous finding of the quantum phase transitions truely beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm, since its suggestion two decades ago.
The fermion disorder operator has been shown to reveal the entanglement information in 1D Luttinger liquids and 2D free and interacting Fermi and non-Fermi liquids emerging at quantum critical points (QCPs) [W. Jiang et al., arXiv:2209.07103]. Here we study, by means of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulation, the scaling behavior of the disorder operator in correlated Dirac systems. We first demonstrate the logarithmic scaling behavior of the disorder operator at the Gross-Neveu (GN) chiral Ising and Heisenberg QCPs, where consistent conformal field theory (CFT) content of the GN-QCP in its coefficient is found. Then we study a 2D monopole-free deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) realized between a quantum-spin Hall insulator and a superconductor. Our data point to negative values of the logarithmic coefficients such that the DQCP does not correspond to a unitary CFT. Density matrix renormalization group calculations of the disorder operator on a 1D DQCP model also detect emergent continuous symmetries.
Abstract Deconfined quantum critical points (DQCPs) have been proposed as a class of continuous quantum phase transitions occurring between two ordered phases with distinct symmetry-breaking patterns, beyond the conventional framework of Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson (LGW) theory. At the DQCP, the system exhibits emergent gauge fields, fractionalized excitations, and enhanced symmetries. Here we review recent theoretical and experimental progress on exploring DQCPs in condensed matter systems. We first introduce theoretical advancements in the study of DQCPs over the past twenty years, particularly in magnetic models on square lattices, honeycomb lattices, kagome lattices, and one-dimensional spin chains. We then discuss recent progress on experimental realization of DQCP in quantum magnetic systems. Experimentally, the Shastry-Sutherland model, realized in SrCu2(BO3)2, offers a particularly promising platform for realizing DQCPs. The magnetic frustration inherent to this model drives phase transitions between two distinct symmetry-breaking states: a valence bond solid (VBS) phase and a Néel antiferromagnetic phase. Remarkably, SrCu2(BO3)2 has provided the first experimental evidence of a proximate DQCP through a field-induced Bose-Einstein condensation, transitioning from the VBS state to the Néel state. Nevertheless, the direct experimental realization of a DQCP remains a significant challenge. Despite this, it offers a promising platform for exploring emergent phenomena through quantum phase transition in low-dimensional quantum systems.