Abstract We study the phase diagram of the (1 + 1)-dimensional Gross-Neveu model with both
gx2(ψψ)2 g x 2 ψ ¯ ψ 2 and
gy2(ψiγ5ψ)2 g y 2 ψ ¯ i γ 5 ψ 2 interaction terms on a spatial lattice. The continuous chiral symmetry, which is present in the continuum model when
gx2=gy2 g x 2 = g y 2 , has a mixed ’t Hooft anomaly with the charge conservation symmetry, which guarantees the existence of a massless mode. However, the same ’t Hooft anomaly also implies that the continuous chiral symmetry is broken explicitly in our lattice model. Nevertheless, from numerical matrix product state simulations we find that for certain parameters of the lattice model, the continuous chiral symmetry reemerges in the infrared fixed point theory, even at strong coupling. We argue that, in order to understand this phenomenon, it is crucial to go beyond mean-field theory (or, equivalently, beyond the leading order term in a 1/N expansion). Interestingly, on the lattice, the chiral Gross-Neveu model appears at a Landau-forbidden second order phase transition separating two distinct and unrelated symmetry-breaking orders. We point out the crucial role of two different ’t Hooft anomalies or Lieb-Schultz-Mattis obstructions for this Landau-forbidden phase transition to occur.
We propose quantum phase transitions beyond the Landau's paradigm of Sp(4) spin Heisenberg models on the triangular and square lattices motivated by the exact $\text{Sp}(4)\ensuremath{\simeq}\text{SO}(5)$ symmetry of spin-3/2 fermionic cold atomic system with only
s-wave scattering. On the triangular lattice, we study a phase transition between the $\sqrt{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{3}$ spin ordered phase and a
Z2 spin liquid phase; this phase transition is described by an O(8) sigma model in terms of fractionalized spinon fields, with significant anomalous scaling dimensions of spin order parameters. On the square lattice, we propose a deconfined critical point between the Neel order and the valence bond solid (VBS) order, which is described by the CP(3) model, and the monopole effect of the compact U(1) gauge field is expected to be suppressed at the critical point.
We study a large-N generalization of
J1-
J2 Heisenberg model on square lattice -- an
Sp(2N) spin model. The possible quantum spin liquid phases of the
Sp(2N) model are studied using the SU(2) projective construction. We find several spin liquid states at least in large
N limit, which include SU(2)
π-flux state, SU(2) chiral spin state and
Z2 spin liquid states. All those spin liquid states have non-trivial quantum orders. We show how projective symmetry group, which characterizes quantum order, protects the stability of even gapless spin liquids. We also study the continuous quantum phase transition from the SU(2)
π-flux state to the SU(2) chiral spin liquid state, and from the SU(2)
π-flux state to the
Z2 spin liquid state. We show that those phase transitions are beyond the paradigm of Landau symmetry-breaking theory. The first phase transition, although a
Z2 symmetry breaking transition, contains critical exponents that are different from those obtained from the Ginzburg-Landau theory of Ising universality class. The second transition does not even involve a change of symmetry and has no symmetry breaking order parameter.