Long-range interactions can fundamentally reshape the low-energy properties of low-dimensional quantum matter, altering both continuous symmetry breaking and topological phenomena. However, their impact on the quantum criticality separating these regimes remains poorly understood. We determine the ground-state phase diagram and critical properties of the spin-one Heisenberg chain with single-ion anisotropy and staggered antiferromagnetic power-law interactions, using matrix-product state (MPS) calculations complemented by high-order series expansions (pCUT+MC). Such long-range, non-frustrated interactions circumvent the Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner theorem, thereby stabilizing continuous symmetry breaking (CSB) phases in direct competition with the Haldane phase. We map out the resulting phase diagram and analyze the entanglement entropy scaling behavior in the U(1) and SU(2) CSB phases, finding logarithmic corrections beyond the short-range, universal contributions expected from linearly dispersed Goldstone modes. We further characterize all critical boundaries through finite-size scaling of either the entanglement entropy or the staggered magnetization. In particular, the large-D-to-U(1)-CSB transition exhibits unconventional, continuously varying critical exponents as a function of the long-range decay exponent with a strong dependence on the imposed boundary conditions leading to distinct finite-size scalings for sufficiently long-range potentials. Remarkably, the Haldane-to-U(1)-CSB transition likewise displays unconventional quantum criticality with distinct continuously varying critical exponents. Our work positions this model as a target for near-term atomic platforms with tunable long-range couplings and exhibiting natural single-ion anisotropy, offering a minimal playground for exploring the interplay between long-range interactions, continuous symmetry breaking, and topology.
Long-range interactions can fundamentally reshape the low-energy properties of low-dimensional quantum matter, altering both continuous symmetry breaking and topological phenomena. However, their impact on the quantum criticality separating these regimes remains poorly understood. We determine the ground-state phase diagram and critical properties of the spin-one Heisenberg chain with single-ion anisotropy and staggered antiferromagnetic power-law interactions, using matrix-product state (MPS) calculations complemented by high-order series expansions (pCUT+MC). Such long-range, non-frustrated interactions circumvent the Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner theorem, thereby stabilizing continuous symmetry breaking (CSB) phases in direct competition with the Haldane phase. We map out the resulting phase diagram and analyze the entanglement entropy scaling behavior in the U(1) and SU(2) CSB phases, finding logarithmic corrections beyond the short-range, universal contributions expected from linearly dispersed Goldstone modes. We further characterize all critical boundaries through finite-size scaling of either the entanglement entropy or the staggered magnetization. In particular, the large-D-to-U(1)-CSB transition exhibits unconventional, continuously varying critical exponents as a function of the long-range decay exponent with a strong dependence on the imposed boundary conditions leading to distinct finite-size scalings for sufficiently long-range potentials. Remarkably, the Haldane-to-U(1)-CSB transition likewise displays unconventional quantum criticality with distinct continuously varying critical exponents. Our work positions this model as a target for near-term atomic platforms with tunable long-range couplings and exhibiting natural single-ion anisotropy, offering a minimal playground for exploring the interplay between long-range interactions, continuous symmetry breaking, and topology.
We study the ground-state phase diagram of a spin-1 Heisenberg chain with staggered long-range (LR) interactions decaying as ∝r−α using a quantum Monte Carlo approach based on the split-spin representation. This formulation enables efficient large-scale simulations by mapping the spin-1 model onto spin-1/2 degrees of freedom with local projection constraints. We resolve the continuous quantum phase transition between the gapped Haldane phase at large α (short-range regime) and a gapless antiferromagnetically ordered Néel phase at small α (LR regime), where the continuous SU(2) symmetry is broken. From finite-size scaling and crossing point analyses, we determine the critical point to be at αc=2.49(1) and extract the associated critical exponents, which indicate unconventional criticality. In particular, the transition is found to be nonconformal, characterized by a dynamical exponent z=1. We further analyze the scaling of entanglement entropy and bipartite fluctuations across the transition, and determine the corresponding universal scalings in both phases and at criticality.
We study quantum phase transitions in Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains with a staggered power-law decaying long-range interactions. Employing the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm and the fidelity susceptibility as the criticality measure, we establish more accurate values of quantum critical points than the results obtained from the spin-wave approximation, quantum Monte Carlo, and DMRG in literatures. The deviation is especially evident for strong long-range interactions. We extend isotropic long-range interactions to the anisotropic cases and find that kaleidoscope of quantum phases emerge from the interplay of anisotropy of the long-range exchange interaction and symmetry breaking. We demonstrate nonfrustrating long-range interactions induce the true long-range order in Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains with a continuous symmetry breaking, lifting the restrictions imposed by the Mermin-Wagner theorem.
Motivated directly by recent trapped-ion quantum simulation experiments, we carry out a comprehensive study of the phase diagram of a spin-1 chain with XXZ-type interactions that decay as $1/{r}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$, using a combination of finite and infinite-size DMRG calculations, spin-wave analysis, and field theory. In the absence of long-range interactions, varying the spin-coupling anisotropy leads to four distinct and well-studied phases: a ferromagnetic Ising phase, a disordered XY phase, a topological Haldane phase, and an antiferromagnetic Ising phase. If long-range interactions are antiferromagnetic and thus frustrated, we find primarily a quantitative change of the phase boundaries. On the other hand, ferromagnetic (nonfrustrated) long-range interactions qualitatively impact the entire phase diagram. Importantly, for $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\lesssim}3$, long-range interactions destroy the Haldane phase, break the conformal symmetry of the XY phase, give rise to a new phase that spontaneously breaks a U(1) continuous symmetry, and introduce a possibly exotic tricritical point with no direct parallel in short-range interacting spin chains. Importantly, we show that the main signatures of all five phases found could be observed experimentally in the near future.
Continuous symmetry breaking (CSB) in low-dimensional systems, forbidden by the Mermin-Wagner theorem for short-range interactions, may take place in the presence of slowly decaying long-range interactions. Nevertheless, there is no stringent bound on how slowly interactions should decay to give rise to CSB in 1D quantum systems at zero temperature. Here, we study a long-range interacting spin chain with U(1) symmetry and power-law interactions V(r)∼1/r^{α}. Using a number of analytical and numerical techniques, we find CSB for α smaller than a critical exponent α_{c}(≤3) that depends on the microscopic parameters of the model. Furthermore, the transition from the gapless XY phase to the gapless CSB phase is mediated by the breaking of conformal and Lorentz symmetries due to long-range interactions, and is described by a universality class akin to, but distinct from, the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Signatures of the CSB phase should be accessible in existing trapped-ion experiments.
In this work, building on state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we perform systematic finite-size scaling of both entanglement and participation entropies for long-range Heisenberg chain with unfrustrated power-law decaying interactions. We find distinctive scaling behaviors for both quantum entropies in the various regimes explored by tuning the decay exponent α, thus capturing nontrivial features through logarithmic terms, beyond the case of linear Nambu-Goldstone modes. Our systematic analysis reveals that the quantum entanglement information, hidden in the scaling of the two studied entropies, can be obtained to the same level of order parameters and other usual finite-size observables of quantum many-body lattice models. The analysis and results obtained here can readily apply to more quantum criticalities in 1D and 2D systems.
The interplay between competing interactions in low-dimensional quantum many-body systems gives rise to a wide variety of quantum phases and critical phenomena. Motivated by this scenario, we investigate the quantum phase diagram of the mixed-spin 1 2 , 1 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with modulated single-ion anisotropy by means of the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. The resulting phase diagram comprises four distinct quantum phases: three gapped phases, namely the 1 / 3 magnetization plateau, the trivial nonmagnetic (TnM) phase, and the topological valence-bond-solid (TVBS) phase, together with a gapless Luttinger liquid (LL) phase. The different phases are characterized through the analysis of magnetization, spin correlation functions, nonlocal order parameters, and entanglement-based observables. The TVBS phase is identified by the presence of exponentially localized edge states, finite values of the nonlocal string order parameter and twist operator, and the characteristic degeneracy pattern of the entanglement spectrum. The boundaries of the LL phase are determined from the transverse spin correlation function and the corresponding Luttinger parameter, revealing two Kosterlitz–Thouless transition lines characterized by the critical value K c = 2.0 , in agreement with finite-size scaling analyses of the spin gap. In addition, we identify a Gaussian critical line associated with the topological quantum phase transition separating the TVBS and TnM phases. By employing the tangential finite-size scaling approach, we accurately determine this critical line by extracting the correlation-length critical exponent ν and the conformal field theory central charge c . Our results demonstrate that the competition between exchange interactions and modulated single-ion anisotropy gives rise to a rich interplay between topology, quantum criticality, and magnetic ordering, highlighting the fundamental role of these interactions in determining the ground-state properties of low-dimensional quantum spin systems.