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arXiv:2405.08612 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Surface phase transitions in a ( 1 + 1 ) -dimensional S U ( 2 ) 1 conformal field theory boundary coupled to a ( 2 + 1 ) -dimensional Z 2 bulk

Zhe Wang, Shang-Qiang Ning, Zenan Liu, Junchen Rong, Yan-Cheng Wang, Zheng Yan, Wenan Guo

Published Sep 12, 2024• 2 citations
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Abstract

We design a $(2+1)$-dimensional $[(2+1)\mathrm{D}]$ quantum spin model in which spin-1/2 ladders are coupled through antiferromagnetic Ising interactions. The model hosts a quantum phase transition in the $(2+1)\mathrm{D}$ ${Z}_{2}$ universality class from the Haldane phase to the antiferromagnetic Ising ordered phase. We focus on studying the surface properties of three different surface configurations when the Ising couplings are tuned. Different behaviors are found on different surfaces. We find ordinary and two different extraordinary surface critical behaviors (SCBs) at the bulk critical point. The ordinary SCBs belong to the surface universality class of the classical 3D Ising bulk transition. One extraordinary SCBs is induced by the topological properties of the Haldane phase. Another extraordinary SCBs at the bulk critical point is induced by an unconventional surface phase transition where the surface develops an Ising order before the bulk. This surface transition is realized by coupling a $(1+1)$-dimensional $[(1+1)\mathrm{D}]$ $SU{(2)}_{1}$ CFT boundary to a $(2+1)\mathrm{D}$ bulk with ${Z}_{2}$ symmetry. We find that the transition is neither a $(1+1)\mathrm{D}$ ${Z}_{2}$ transition, expected based on symmetry consideration, nor a Kosterlitz-Thouless-like transition, violating the previous theoretical prediction. This new surface phase transition and related extraordinary SCBs deserve further analytical and numerical exploration.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.110.115122

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Continuous phase transitions exhibit richer critical phenomena on the surface than in the bulk, because distinct surface universality classes can be realized at the same bulk critical point by tuning the surface interactions. The exploration of surface critical behavior provides a window looking into higher-dimensional boundary conformal field theories. In this work, we study the surface critical behavior of a two-dimensional (2D) quantum critical Heisenberg model by tuning the surface coupling strength, and discover a direct special transition on the surface from the ordinary phase into an extraordinary phase. The extraordinary phase has a long-range antiferromagnetic order on the surface, in sharp contrast to the logarithmic decaying spin correlations in the 3D classical O(3) model. The special transition point has a new set of critical exponents, y_{s}=0.86(4) y s = 0.86 ( 4 ) and \eta_{\parallel}=-0.33(1) η ∥ = − 0.33 ( 1 ) , which are distinct from the special transition of the classical O(3) model and indicate a new surface universality class of the 3D O(3) Wilson-Fisher theory.
Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we study spin-1/2 diagonal ladders coupled by ferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions. The model can also be viewed as usual ladders with ferromagnetic rung couplings coupled by antiferromagnetic diagonal couplings. We show that the model hosts a striped magnetic ordered phase and two topological nontrivial Haldane phases separated by two quantum critical points. We also show that the two quantum critical points are all in the three-dimensional O(3) universality class irrelevant to the topological properties of the Haldane phases. The properties of the surface formed by ladder ends in the two Haldane phases are studied, showing that the surface states are both gapless due to the symmetry-protected topological bulk states. We further demonstrate that extraordinary surface critical behaviors occur at both critical points on such gapless surfaces without enhancing the surface coupling. Notably, the surface is not expected to be ordered in the three-dimensional classical O(3) critical point, suggesting that the topological properties of the Haldane phases are responsible for this surface critical behavior.
Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we study the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on a two-dimensional lattice formed by coupling diagonal ladders. The model hosts an antiferromagnetic N\'eel phase, a rung singlet product phase, and a topological nontrivial Haldane phase, separated by two quantum phase transitions. We show that the two quantum critical points are all in the three-dimensional O(3) universality class. The properties of the two gapped phases, including the finite-size behavior of the string orders in the Haldane phase, are studied. We show that the surface formed by the ladder ends is gapless, while the surface exposed along the ladder is gapful in the Haldane phase. Conversely, in the gapped rung singlet phase, the former surface is gapped, and the latter is gapless. We demonstrate that, although the mechanisms of the two gapless modes are different, nonordinary surface critical behaviors are realized at both critical points on the gapless surfaces exposed by simply cutting bonds without fine-tuning the surface coupling required to reach a multicritical point in classical models. We also show that, on the gapped surfaces, the surface critical behaviors are in the ordinary class.
Surface critical behavior (SCB) refers to the singularities of physical quantities on the surface at the bulk phase transition. It is closely related to and even richer than the bulk critical behavior. In this work, we show that three types of SCB universality are realized in the dimerized Heisenberg models at the (2+1)-dimensional O(3) quantum critical points by engineering the surface configurations. The ordinary transition happens if the surface is gapped in the bulk disordered phase, while the gapless surface state generally leads to the multicritical special transition, even though the latter is precluded in classical phase transitions because the surface is in the lower critical dimension. An extraordinary transition is induced by the ferrimagnetic order on the surface of the staggered Heisenberg model, in which the surface critical exponents violate the results of the scaling theory and thus seriously challenge our current understanding of extraordinary transitions.
The nonordinary surface transitions at the (2+12+12+1)-dimensional quantum critical point precluded in the corresponding classical critical point have been found recently. The mechanism of such behavior that is only found in dimerized Heisenberg models to date is still under debate. To illuminate the role of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases in inducing such nonordinary behaviors, we study a system on a two-dimensional square lattice consisting of interacting spin-1 Haldane chains, which has a genuine SPT phase---the Haldane phase---at weak interchain interactions and a quantum critical point, belonging to the classical three-dimensional (3D) O(3) universality class, to the N\'eel phase. Different from previously studied models, there is no dimerization in the current model. Cutting the system along the chain direction or perpendicular to the chain direction exposes two different surfaces. Using unbiased quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the two different types of surfaces show completely different surface critical behaviors at the bulk critical point, resulting from different surface states in the SPT phase. For the system with surfaces along the chain direction, the surface critical behavior is of ordinary type of the bulk 3D O(3) critical point, while for the surfaces perpendicular to the chain direction, the surface critical behavior is nonordinary, consistent with nonordinary transitions found in dimerized Heisenberg models. Our numerical results demonstrate that the gapless surface state in the gapped SPT phase together with the gapless mode of the critical point is a pure quantum scenario that leads to the nonordinary transition.