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arXiv:2403.03503 · Nature Communications

Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points

Yang-yang Tan, Yongrui Chen, Wei‐jie Fu, Wei-Jia Li

Published Mar 25, 2025• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Real-time dynamics of strongly correlated systems, in particular its critical dynamics near phase transitions, have been always on the cutting edge of studies in diverse fields of physics, e.g., high energy physics, condensed matter, holography, etc. In this work, we investigate the critical damping of collective modes associated with spontaneous breaking of approximate symmetries, which are called pseudo-Goldstone modes, in strongly correlated systems. Using the Schwinger-Keldysh field theory, we find a universal pseudo-Goldstone damping via the critical O(N) model that has never been found before by other approaches. Different from the conventional damping found in holography and hydrodynamics, the new one is controlled by critical fluctuations, hence is invisible in mean-field systems or strongly correlated systems with classical gravity duals. Since the critical damping depends solely on the universalities of the critical point, irrespective of the microscopic details, our conclusion should be applicable to a wide class of interacting systems. Strongly correlated systems exhibit universal dynamics near phase transitions, from particle to condensed matter physics. However, despite the successes of various theoretical approaches, systematic treatments of fluctuations are scarce. Here the authors unveil a universal damping of pseudo-Goldstone modes in systems with approximate symmetries, advancing our understanding of near-critical dynamics in several contexts.

DOI
10.1038/s41467-025-58170-1

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Real-time dynamics of strongly correlated systems, in particular its critical dynamics near phase transitions, have been always on the cutting edge of studies in diverse fields of physics, e.g., high energy physics, condensed matter, holography, etc. In this work, we investigate the critical damping of collective modes associated with spontaneous breaking of approximate symmetries, which are called pseudo-Goldstone modes, in strongly correlated systems. Using the Schwinger-Keldysh field theory, we find a universal pseudo-Goldstone damping via the critical O(N) model that has never been found before by other approaches. Different from the conventional damping found in holography and hydrodynamics, the new one is controlled by critical fluctuations, hence is invisible in mean-field systems or strongly correlated systems with classical gravity duals. Since the critical damping depends solely on the universalities of the critical point, irrespective of the microscopic details, our conclusion should be applicable to a wide class of interacting systems. Strongly correlated systems exhibit universal dynamics near phase transitions, from particle to condensed matter physics. However, despite the successes of various theoretical approaches, systematic treatments of fluctuations are scarce. Here the authors unveil a universal damping of pseudo-Goldstone modes in systems with approximate symmetries, advancing our understanding of near-critical dynamics in several contexts.
Approximate symmetries abound in nature. If these symmetries are also spontaneously broken, the would-be Goldstone modes acquire a small mass, or inverse correlation length, and are referred to as pseudo-Goldstones. At nonzero temperature, the effects of dissipation can be captured by hydrodynamics at sufficiently long scales compared to the local equilibrium. Here, we show that, in the limit of weak explicit breaking, locality of hydrodynamics implies that the damping of pseudo-Goldstones is completely determined by their mass and diffusive transport coefficients. We present many applications: superfluids, QCD in the chiral limit, Wigner crystal and density wave phases in the presence of an external magnetic field or not, nematic phases, and (anti)ferromagnets. For electronic density wave phases, pseudo-Goldstone damping generates a contribution to the resistivity independent of the strength of disorder, which can have a linear temperature dependence provided the associated diffusivity saturates a bound. This is reminiscent of the phenomenology of strange metal high-T_{c} superconductors, where charge density waves are observed across the phase diagram.
In thermal equilibrium the dynamics of phase transitions is largely controlled by fluctuation-dissipation relations: On the one hand, friction suppresses fluctuations, while on the other hand, the thermal noise is proportional to friction constants. Out of equilibrium, this balance dissolves and one can have situations where friction vanishes due to antidamping in the presence of a finite noise level. We study a wide class of O ( N ) field theories where this situation is realized at a phase transition, which we identify as a critical exceptional point. In the ordered phase, antidamping induces a continuous limit cycle rotation of the order parameter with an enhanced number of 2 N − 3 Goldstone modes. Close to the critical exceptional point, however, fluctuations diverge so strongly due to the suppression of friction that in dimensions d < 4 they universally either destroy a preexisting static order or give rise to a fluctuation-induced first-order transition. This is demonstrated within a full resummation of loop corrections via Dyson-Schwinger equations for N = 2 , and a generalization for arbitrary N , which can be solved in the long wavelength limit. We show that in order to realize this physics it is not necessary to drive a system far out of equilibrium: Using the peculiar protection of Goldstone modes, the transition from an x y magnet to a ferrimagnet is governed by an exceptional critical point once weakly perturbed away from thermal equilibrium. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Universal dynamics of spontaneous symmetry breaking is central to understanding the universal behavior of spontaneous defect formation in various system from the early universe, condensed-matter systems to ultracold atomic systems. We explore the universal real-time dynamics in an array of coupled binary atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices, which undergo a spontaneous symmetry breaking from the symmetric Rabi oscillation to the broken-symmetry self-trapping. In addition to Goldstone modes, there exist gapped Higgs mode whose excitation gap vanishes at the critical point. In the slow passage through the critical point, we analytically find that the symmetry-breaking dynamics obeys the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. From the scalings of bifurcation delay and domain formation, we numerically extract two Kibble-Zurek exponents b1=ν/(1+νz)b_{1}=\nu/(1+\nu z)b1​=ν/(1+νz) and b2=1/(1+νz)b_{2}=1/(1+\nu z)b2​=1/(1+νz), which give the static correlation-length critical exponent ν\nuν and the dynamic critical exponent zzz. Our approach provides an efficient way to simultaneous determination of the critical exponents ν\nuν and zzz for a continuous phase transition.
Higgs and Goldstone modes manifest as fluctuations in the order parameter of system, offering insights into its phase transitions and symmetry properties. Exploring the dynamics of these collective excitations in a Rydberg atoms system advances various branches of condensed matter, particle physics, and cosmology. Here, we report an experimental signature of Higgs and Goldstone modes in a U(1) symmetry-broken Rydberg atomic gases. By constructing two probe fields to excite atoms, we observe the distinct phase and amplitude fluctuations of Rydberg atoms collective excitations under the particle-hole symmetry. Due to the van der Waals interactions between the Rydberg atoms, we detect a symmetric variance spectrum divided by the divergent regime and phase boundary, capturing the full dynamics of the additional Higgs and Goldstone modes. Studying the Higgs and Goldstone modes in Rydberg atoms allows us to explore fundamental aspects of quantum phase transitions and symmetry breaking phenomena, while leveraging the unique properties of these highly interacting systems to uncover new physics and potential applications in quantum simulation.
Universal dynamics of spontaneous symmetry breaking is central to understanding the universal behavior of spontaneous defect formation in various systems from the early universe, condensed-matter systems to ultracold atomic systems. We explore the universal real-time dynamics in an array of coupled binary atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices, which undergo a spontaneous symmetry breaking from the symmetric Rabi oscillation to the broken-symmetry self-trapping. In addition to Goldstone modes, there exist gapped Higgs modes whose excitation gap vanishes at the critical point. In the slow passage through the critical point, we analytically find that the symmetry-breaking dynamics obeys the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. From the scalings of bifurcation delay and domain formation, we numerically extract two Kibble-Zurek exponents, b 1 = ν / ( 1 + ν z ) and b 2 = 1 / ( 1 + ν z ) , which give the static correlation-length critical exponent ν and the dynamic critical exponent z . Our approach provides an efficient way for the simultaneous determination of the critical exponents ν and z for a continuous phase transition.
Understanding the real time dynamics of quantum systems without quasiparticles constitutes an important yet challenging problem. We study the superfluid-insulator quantum-critical point of bosons on a two-dimensional lattice, a system whose excitations cannot be described in a quasiparticle basis. We present detailed quantum Monte Carlo results for two separate lattice realizations: their low-frequency conductivities are found to have the same universal dependence on imaginary frequency and temperature. We then use the structure of the real time dynamics of conformal field theories described by the holographic gauge/gravity duality to make progress on the dicult problem of analytically continuing the Monte Carlo data to real time. Our method yields quantitative and experimentally testable results on the frequency-dependent conductivity near the quantum critical point, and on the spectrum of quasinormal modes in the vicinity of the superfluid-insulator quantum phase transition. Extensions to other observables and universality classes are discussed.