Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2605.07734

Characterizing gapped phases by smeared boundary conformal field theories: Duality in unusual ordering with spontaneously broken generalized symmetries

Yoshiki Fukusumi, Shuma Nakashiba

Published May 8, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study the classification of the gapped phases or massive renormalization group (RG) flows dual to the massless RG flows under changing the sign of the coupling constants. Whereas our formalism is based on combining Higgs- or Nambu-Goldstone-type arguments with Cardy's smeared boundary conformal field theories (SBCFTs), several puzzling structures arise. More specifically, the established Higgs or Nambu-Goldstone type arguments on the duality imply that the natural basis for the gapped states should be constructed from a set of smeared Ishibashi states, which are unphysical in boundary critical phenomena. Hence, the module of the gapped phases can be outside of that of boundary critical phenomena, whereas one can still calculate characterizing quantities by applying SBCFTs to the models. For example, we demonstrate that the massive RG flow dual to the massless RG flow from the tricritical Ising model to the Ising model, one of the simplest massless RG flows, has this unusual structure. This can be regarded as a quantum field-theoretic analogue of order-disorder coexistence in lattice models. More generally, the resultant gapped phases usually spontaneously break non-group-like symmetry (or noninvertible symmetry). Our work provides systematic quantum field theoretic descriptions of such unusual phases with spontaneous symmetry breaking of non-group-like (or noninvertible) symmetries.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2605.07734

Related papers

Gauging or extending bulk and boundary conformal field theories: Application to bulk and domain wall problem in topological matter and their descriptions by mock modular covariant

Yoshiki Fukusumi

We formulate the ${Z}_{N}$ group gauging operations (or group extensions) in (smeared) boundary conformal field theories (BCFTs) and bulk conformal field theories, and study their applications to various phenomena in topologically ordered systems. We apply the resultant theories to analyze the correspondence between the renormalization group (RG) flow of CFTs and the classification of topological quantum field theories using the testable information of general classes of partition functions. One can obtain the bulk topological properties of the $2+1$ dimensional topological ordered phase corresponding to the massive RG flow of the $1+1$ dimensional systems equivalent to the smeared BCFT. We present an obstruction to mass condensation for the smeared BCFT analogous to the Lieb-Shultz-Mattis theorem for noninvertible symmetry. Corresponding to the bulk topological degeneracies in $2+1$ dimensions and gapped quantum phases in $1+1$ dimensions, we construct a new series of BCFT. We also study the implications of the massless RG flow of the $1+1$ dimensional CFTs corresponding to the domain wall or coupling problem in $2+1$ dimensional topological orders, which corresponds to the earlier proposal by L. Kong and H. Zheng [Nucl. Phys. B 966, 115384 (2021)] closely related to the integer-spin simple current by Schellekens and Gato-Rivera. We reveal that two distinct kinds of massless RG flow exist, coming from anomaly cancellation and anomaly matching related to Witt equivalence of bulk CFTs. The anomaly cancellation flows produce a new series of modular invariants as coupled models, and the anomaly matching flows produce nontrivial domain walls changing the chirality of anyons. Our paper gives a unified direction for future theoretical and numerical studies of the topological phase based on the established data of classifications of conformal field theories or modular invariants (and the corresponding category theories).

arXiv:2412.19577•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Aug 8, 2025•5 citations

Bulk Renormalization Group Flows and Boundary States in Conformal Field Theories

John Cardy

We propose using smeared boundary states e^{-\tau H}|\cal B\rangle as variational approximations to the ground state of a conformal field theory deformed by relevant bulk operators. This is motivated by recent studies of quantum quenches in CFTs and of the entanglement spectrum in massive theories. It gives a simple criterion for choosing which boundary state should correspond to which combination of bulk operators, and leads to a rudimentary phase diagram of the theory in the vicinity of the RG fixed point corresponding to the CFT, as well as rigorous upper bounds on the universal amplitude of the free energy. In the case of the 2d minimal models explicit formulae are available. As a side result we show that the matrix elements of bulk operators between smeared Ishibashi states are simply given by the fusion rules of the CFT.

arXiv:1706.01568•SciPost Physics•Aug 12, 2017•52 citations

Topology meets symmetry breaking: Hidden order, intrinsically gapless topological states, and finite-temperature topological transitions

Reja H. Wilke, Henning Schlömer, Simon M. Linsel +2 more

Since the discovery of phase transitions driven by topological defects, the classification of phases of matter has been significantly extended beyond Ginzburg and Landau's paradigm of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). In particular, intrinsic and symmetry-protected topological (SPT) orders have been discovered in (mostly gapped) quantum many-body ground states. However, these are commonly viewed as zero-temperature phenomena, and their robustness in a gapless ground state or against thermal fluctuations remains challenging to tackle. Here we introduce an explicit construction for SPT-type states with hidden order associated with SSB: They feature (quasi-)long-range correlations along appropriate edges but short-range order in the bulk, ground state degeneracy associated with SSB, and nonlocal string order in the bulk. We apply our construction to predict two types of finite-temperature SPT transitions protected by 1-form symmetries in the Ising and BKT class, respectively, where the usual signs of criticality appear despite the absence of a diverging correlation length in the bulk. While the state featuring hidden Ising order is gapped, the other SPT state associated with the BKT-SPT transition has hidden U ( 1 ) or XY order and constitutes an intrinsically gapless SPT state, associated with a gapless Goldstone mode. Specifically, in this work we discuss spins with global Z 2 or U ( 1 ) symmetry coupled to link variables constituting a loop gas model with a 1-form symmetry. By mapping this system to an Ising-gauge theory, we demonstrate that one of the SPT phases we construct corresponds to the Higgs-SPT phase at T = 0 – which we show here to remain stable at finite temperature. Our work paves the way for a more systematic search for hidden order SPT phases, including in gapless systems, and raises the question if a natural (finite- T ) spin liquid candidate exists that realizes hidden order in the Higgs-SPT class.

arXiv:2506.03146•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•May 15, 2026•0 citations

Particle-soliton degeneracies from spontaneously broken non-invertible symmetry

Clay Córdova, Diego García-Sepúlveda, Nicholas Holfester

A bstract We study non-invertible topological symmetry operators in massive quantum field theories in (1+1) dimensions. In phases where this symmetry is spontaneously broken we show that the particle spectrum often has degeneracies dictated by the non-invertible symmetry and we deduce a procedure to determine the allowed multiplets. These degeneracies are robust predictions and do not require integrability or other special features of renormalization group flows. We exhibit these conclusions in examples where the spectrum is known, recovering soliton and particle degeneracies. For instance, the Tricritical Ising model deformed by the subleading ℤ 2 odd operator flows to a gapped phase with two degenerate vacua. This flow enjoys a Fibonacci fusion category symmetry which implies a threefold degeneracy of its particle states, relating the mass of solitons interpolating between vacua and particles supported in a single vacuum.

arXiv:2403.08883•Journal of High Energy Physics•Jul 17, 2024•20 citations

Generalizing quantum dimensions: Symmetry-based classification of local pseudo-Hermitian systems and the corresponding domain walls

Yoshiki Fukusumi, Taishi Kawamoto

We study conformal field theories (CFTs) and their classifications from a modern perspective based on the abstract algebraic formalism of symmetries or conserved charges, known as symmetry topological field theories (SymTFTs). By studying the algebraic structure of the SymTFTs in detail, we found a natural generalization of the quantum dimensions associated with (pseudo-)Hermitian systems and (non)-unitary CFTs. These generalized data of SymTFTs provide classifications of massless and massive renormalization group flows, which will describe the quantum phase transitions of the corresponding pseudo-Hermitian systems. Moreover, our discussions straightforwardly enable one to relate a general class of coset constructions or level-rank dualities to domain wall problems between topological quantum field theories (or a series of corresponding quantum phase transitions related to the Higgs mechanism). Our work provides a systematic reduction and classification of algebraic data, symmetries, for pseudo-Hermitian systems based on ideas from established mathematical fields, linear algebra and ring theory.

hep-thCross-listedarXiv:2511.11059•Nov 17, 2025

Symmetry enhancement in RCFT

Ken Kikuchi

We propose when and why symmetry enhancements happen in massless renormalization group (RG) flows to two-dimensional rational conformal field theories (RCFTs). We test our proposal against known RG flows from unitary minimal models. We also suggest which sign of the relevant coupling triggers the massless RG flow. The other sign triggers massive RG flows to topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). We comment on their ground state degeneracies.

arXiv:2109.02672•Sep 6, 2021•13 citations
We study the classification of the gapped phases or massive renormalization group (RG) flows dual to the massless RG flows under changing the sign of the coupling constants. Whereas our formalism is based on combining Higgs- or Nambu-Goldstone-type arguments with Cardy's smeared boundary conformal field theories (SBCFTs), several puzzling structures arise. More specifically, the established Higgs or Nambu-Goldstone type arguments on the duality imply that the natural basis for the gapped states should be constructed from a set of smeared Ishibashi states, which are unphysical in boundary critical phenomena. Hence, the module of the gapped phases can be outside of that of boundary critical phenomena, whereas one can still calculate characterizing quantities by applying SBCFTs to the models. For example, we demonstrate that the massive RG flow dual to the massless RG flow from the tricritical Ising model to the Ising model, one of the simplest massless RG flows, has this unusual structure. This can be regarded as a quantum field-theoretic analogue of order-disorder coexistence in lattice models. More generally, the resultant gapped phases usually spontaneously break non-group-like symmetry (or noninvertible symmetry). Our work provides systematic quantum field theoretic descriptions of such unusual phases with spontaneous symmetry breaking of non-group-like (or noninvertible) symmetries.
We formulate the ZN{Z}_{N}ZN​ group gauging operations (or group extensions) in (smeared) boundary conformal field theories (BCFTs) and bulk conformal field theories, and study their applications to various phenomena in topologically ordered systems. We apply the resultant theories to analyze the correspondence between the renormalization group (RG) flow of CFTs and the classification of topological quantum field theories using the testable information of general classes of partition functions. One can obtain the bulk topological properties of the 2+12+12+1 dimensional topological ordered phase corresponding to the massive RG flow of the 1+11+11+1 dimensional systems equivalent to the smeared BCFT. We present an obstruction to mass condensation for the smeared BCFT analogous to the Lieb-Shultz-Mattis theorem for noninvertible symmetry. Corresponding to the bulk topological degeneracies in 2+12+12+1 dimensions and gapped quantum phases in 1+11+11+1 dimensions, we construct a new series of BCFT. We also study the implications of the massless RG flow of the 1+11+11+1 dimensional CFTs corresponding to the domain wall or coupling problem in 2+12+12+1 dimensional topological orders, which corresponds to the earlier proposal by L. Kong and H. Zheng [Nucl. Phys. B 966, 115384 (2021)] closely related to the integer-spin simple current by Schellekens and Gato-Rivera. We reveal that two distinct kinds of massless RG flow exist, coming from anomaly cancellation and anomaly matching related to Witt equivalence of bulk CFTs. The anomaly cancellation flows produce a new series of modular invariants as coupled models, and the anomaly matching flows produce nontrivial domain walls changing the chirality of anyons. Our paper gives a unified direction for future theoretical and numerical studies of the topological phase based on the established data of classifications of conformal field theories or modular invariants (and the corresponding category theories).
We propose using smeared boundary states e^{-\tau H}|\cal B\rangle as variational approximations to the ground state of a conformal field theory deformed by relevant bulk operators. This is motivated by recent studies of quantum quenches in CFTs and of the entanglement spectrum in massive theories. It gives a simple criterion for choosing which boundary state should correspond to which combination of bulk operators, and leads to a rudimentary phase diagram of the theory in the vicinity of the RG fixed point corresponding to the CFT, as well as rigorous upper bounds on the universal amplitude of the free energy. In the case of the 2d minimal models explicit formulae are available. As a side result we show that the matrix elements of bulk operators between smeared Ishibashi states are simply given by the fusion rules of the CFT.
Since the discovery of phase transitions driven by topological defects, the classification of phases of matter has been significantly extended beyond Ginzburg and Landau's paradigm of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). In particular, intrinsic and symmetry-protected topological (SPT) orders have been discovered in (mostly gapped) quantum many-body ground states. However, these are commonly viewed as zero-temperature phenomena, and their robustness in a gapless ground state or against thermal fluctuations remains challenging to tackle. Here we introduce an explicit construction for SPT-type states with hidden order associated with SSB: They feature (quasi-)long-range correlations along appropriate edges but short-range order in the bulk, ground state degeneracy associated with SSB, and nonlocal string order in the bulk. We apply our construction to predict two types of finite-temperature SPT transitions protected by 1-form symmetries in the Ising and BKT class, respectively, where the usual signs of criticality appear despite the absence of a diverging correlation length in the bulk. While the state featuring hidden Ising order is gapped, the other SPT state associated with the BKT-SPT transition has hidden U ( 1 ) or XY order and constitutes an intrinsically gapless SPT state, associated with a gapless Goldstone mode. Specifically, in this work we discuss spins with global Z 2 or U ( 1 ) symmetry coupled to link variables constituting a loop gas model with a 1-form symmetry. By mapping this system to an Ising-gauge theory, we demonstrate that one of the SPT phases we construct corresponds to the Higgs-SPT phase at T = 0 – which we show here to remain stable at finite temperature. Our work paves the way for a more systematic search for hidden order SPT phases, including in gapless systems, and raises the question if a natural (finite- T ) spin liquid candidate exists that realizes hidden order in the Higgs-SPT class.
A bstract We study non-invertible topological symmetry operators in massive quantum field theories in (1+1) dimensions. In phases where this symmetry is spontaneously broken we show that the particle spectrum often has degeneracies dictated by the non-invertible symmetry and we deduce a procedure to determine the allowed multiplets. These degeneracies are robust predictions and do not require integrability or other special features of renormalization group flows. We exhibit these conclusions in examples where the spectrum is known, recovering soliton and particle degeneracies. For instance, the Tricritical Ising model deformed by the subleading ℤ 2 odd operator flows to a gapped phase with two degenerate vacua. This flow enjoys a Fibonacci fusion category symmetry which implies a threefold degeneracy of its particle states, relating the mass of solitons interpolating between vacua and particles supported in a single vacuum.
We study conformal field theories (CFTs) and their classifications from a modern perspective based on the abstract algebraic formalism of symmetries or conserved charges, known as symmetry topological field theories (SymTFTs). By studying the algebraic structure of the SymTFTs in detail, we found a natural generalization of the quantum dimensions associated with (pseudo-)Hermitian systems and (non)-unitary CFTs. These generalized data of SymTFTs provide classifications of massless and massive renormalization group flows, which will describe the quantum phase transitions of the corresponding pseudo-Hermitian systems. Moreover, our discussions straightforwardly enable one to relate a general class of coset constructions or level-rank dualities to domain wall problems between topological quantum field theories (or a series of corresponding quantum phase transitions related to the Higgs mechanism). Our work provides a systematic reduction and classification of algebraic data, symmetries, for pseudo-Hermitian systems based on ideas from established mathematical fields, linear algebra and ring theory.