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

Confinement in the q-state Potts model: an RG-TCSA study

Lencsés, Máté, G. Takács

Published Jan 1, 2015• 40 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In the ferromagnetic phase of the q-state Potts model, switching on an external magnetic field in- duces confinement of the domain wall excitations. For the Ising model (q = 2) the spectrum consists of kink-antikink states which are the analogues of mesonic states in QCD, while for q = 3, depending on the sign of the field, the spectrum may also contain three-kink bound states which are the analogues of the baryons. In recent years the resulting “hadron” spectrum was described using several different approaches, such as quantum mechanics in the confining linear potential, WKB methods and also the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Here we compare the available predictions to numerical results from renor- malization group improved truncated conformal space approach (RG-TCSA). While mesonic states in the Ising model have already been considered in a different truncated Hamiltonian approach, this is the first time that a precision numerical study is performed for the 3-state Potts model. We find that the semiclassical approach provides a very accurate description for the mesonic spectrum in all the parameter regime for weak magnetic field, while the low-energy expansion from the Bethe-Salpeter equation is only valid for very weak fields where it gives a slight improvement over the semiclassical results. In addition, we confirm the validity of the recent predictions for the baryon spectrum obtained from solving the quantum mechanical three-body problem.

Related papers

Confinement in the q-state Potts model: an RG-TCSA study

M. Lencsés, G. Takács

In the ferromagnetic phase of the q-state Potts model, switching on an external magnetic field induces confinement of the domain wall excitations. For the Ising model (q = 2) the spectrum consists of kink-antikink states which are the analogues of mesonic states in QCD, while for q = 3, depending on the sign of the field, the spectrum may also contain three-kink bound states which are the analogues of the baryons. In recent years the resulting “hadron” spectrum was described using several different approaches, such as quantum mechanics in the confining linear potential, WKB methods and also the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Here we compare the available predictions to numerical results from renormalization group improved truncated conformal space approach (RG-TCSA). While mesonic states in the Ising model have already been considered in a different truncated Hamiltonian approach, this is the first time that a precision numerical study is performed for the 3-state Potts model. We find that the semiclassical approach provides a very accurate description for the mesonic spectrum in all the parameter regime for weak magnetic field, while the low-energy expansion from the Bethe-Salpeter equation is only valid for very weak fields where it gives a slight improvement over the semiclassical results. In addition, we confirm the validity of the recent predictions for the baryon spectrum obtained from solving the quantum mechanical three-body problem.

arXiv:1506.06477•Journal of High Energy Physics•Sep 1, 2015•31 citations

Confinement in the three-state Potts quantum spin chain in extreme ferromagnetic limit

Anna Krasznai, S. B. Rutkevich, G. Takács

We investigate the dynamics of the three-state Potts quantum spin chain in the extreme ferromagnetic limit using a perturbative expansion in the transverse magnetic field. We demonstrate that a perturbative approach provides access to important features beyond the reach of previous studies, most notably the description of resonant excitations and the analytic prediction of post-quench time evolution. A central focus is the oblique quench regime — a feature unique to the Potts model with no Ising counterpart — in which unconfined kink excitations hybridise with the two-kink bound states. We provide a detailed examination of the analytic structure of the two-kink scattering amplitude, tracing the transformation of stable excitations into resonances near stability thresholds. Our analytical results for the excitation spectra and magnetisation dynamics show excellent agreement with numerical simulations of non-equilibrium dynamics.

arXiv:2508.20821•SciPost Physics Core•Oct 29, 2026•0 citations

Confinement and false vacuum decay on the Potts quantum spin chain

O Pomponio, Anna Krasznai, G. Takács

We consider non-equilibrium dynamics after quantum quenches in the mixed-field three-state Potts quantum chain in the ferromagnetic regime. Compared to the analogous setting for the Ising spin chain, the Potts model has a much richer phenomenology, which originates partly from baryonic excitations in the spectrum and partly from the various possible relative alignments of the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field. We obtain the excitation spectrum by combining semiclassical approximation and exact diagonalisation, and we use the results to explain the various dynamical behaviours we observe. Besides recovering dynamical confinement, as well as Wannier-Stark localisation due to Bloch oscillations similar to the Ising chain, a novel feature is the presence of baryonic excitations in the quench spectroscopy. In addition, when the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field are misaligned, both confinement and Bloch oscillations only result in partial localisation, with some correlations retaining an unsuppressed light-cone behaviour together with a corresponding growth of entanglement entropy.

SciPost Physics•Mar 5, 2025•2 citations

Formfactor perturbation expansions and confinement in the Ising field theory

S. B. Rutkevich

We study the particle spectrum M n ( h ) in the two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising field theory in a weak external magnetic field h . According to the Wu and McCoy scenario of the weak confinement, pairs of fermions (domain walls) are coupled into bosonic kink–antikink bound states at small h > 0. Fluctuations with more than two fermions also contribute to the wavefunctions of the compound particles, leading to multi-fermion corrections to their masses M n ( h ) in higher orders in h . We describe a perturbative procedure, which allows us to account for both multi-fermion fluctuations and the long-range confining interaction between fermions, and leads to the formfactor expansions for the renormalized parameters of the model. We obtain integral representations for the third-order multi-fermion correction to the mass M n ( h ), which arises from the regular correction to the kernel of the Bethe–Salpeter equation.

arXiv:0901.1571•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Jul 14, 2009•18 citations

Confinement and false vacuum decay on the Potts quantum spin chain

O Pomponio, Anna Krasznai, G. Takács

We consider non-equilibrium dynamics after quantum quenches in the mixed-field three-state Potts quantum chain in the ferromagnetic regime. Compared to the analogous setting for the Ising spin chain, the Potts model has a much richer phenomenology, which originates partly from baryonic excitations in the spectrum and partly from the various possible relative alignments of the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field. We obtain the excitation spectrum by combining semi-classical approximation and exact diagonalisation, and we use the results to explain the various dynamical behaviours we observe. Besides recovering dynamical confinement, as well as Wannier-Stark localisation due to Bloch oscillations similar to the Ising chain, a novel feature is the presence of baryonic excitations in the quench spectroscopy. In addition, when the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field are misaligned, both confinement and Bloch oscillations only result in partial localisation, with some correlations retaining an unsuppressed light-cone behaviour together with a corresponding growth of entanglement entropy.

arXiv:2410.03382•Oct 4, 2024•0 citations

Mesons, Confinement, and Complexity: A Krylov Space Perspective on the Long-Range Ising Chain

Xuhao Jiang, Jad C. Halimeh, N. S. Srivatsa

We investigate the interplay between confinement and Krylov complexity in the long-range transverse-field Ising chain, where power-law interactions $\sim 1/r^α$ generate an effective confining potential between domain walls without an explicit symmetry-breaking field. Using the time-averaged Krylov state complexity after a quench as a diagnostic, we find that the complexity is strongly suppressed and only weakly system size-dependent at small $α$ and small transverse field $h_x$, where confinement is strongest, and crosses over to rapid growth at larger $α$, where it increases with system size. Within the confined regime, the oscillation frequencies of the complexity agree with the meson masses of an effective two-kink model, with the dominant frequency growing linearly with the lightest meson mass and the time-averaged complexity decreasing approximately as its inverse square. We further study operator Krylov complexity at finite temperature using the Wightman inner product. At low temperature, it exhibits bounded oscillations that directly encode the meson spectrum, whereas this structure is progressively washed out as the temperature increases. These results identify Krylov complexity as a spectroscopic probe of interaction-induced confinement and reproduce, in a microscopic lattice model, the hallmarks of Krylov complexity identified in confining field theories.

cond-mat.str-elCross-listedarXiv:2610.36054•Oct 28, 2026•0 citations
In the ferromagnetic phase of the q-state Potts model, switching on an external magnetic field in- duces confinement of the domain wall excitations. For the Ising model (q = 2) the spectrum consists of kink-antikink states which are the analogues of mesonic states in QCD, while for q = 3, depending on the sign of the field, the spectrum may also contain three-kink bound states which are the analogues of the baryons. In recent years the resulting “hadron” spectrum was described using several different approaches, such as quantum mechanics in the confining linear potential, WKB methods and also the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Here we compare the available predictions to numerical results from renor- malization group improved truncated conformal space approach (RG-TCSA). While mesonic states in the Ising model have already been considered in a different truncated Hamiltonian approach, this is the first time that a precision numerical study is performed for the 3-state Potts model. We find that the semiclassical approach provides a very accurate description for the mesonic spectrum in all the parameter regime for weak magnetic field, while the low-energy expansion from the Bethe-Salpeter equation is only valid for very weak fields where it gives a slight improvement over the semiclassical results. In addition, we confirm the validity of the recent predictions for the baryon spectrum obtained from solving the quantum mechanical three-body problem.
In the ferromagnetic phase of the q-state Potts model, switching on an external magnetic field induces confinement of the domain wall excitations. For the Ising model (q = 2) the spectrum consists of kink-antikink states which are the analogues of mesonic states in QCD, while for q = 3, depending on the sign of the field, the spectrum may also contain three-kink bound states which are the analogues of the baryons. In recent years the resulting “hadron” spectrum was described using several different approaches, such as quantum mechanics in the confining linear potential, WKB methods and also the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Here we compare the available predictions to numerical results from renormalization group improved truncated conformal space approach (RG-TCSA). While mesonic states in the Ising model have already been considered in a different truncated Hamiltonian approach, this is the first time that a precision numerical study is performed for the 3-state Potts model. We find that the semiclassical approach provides a very accurate description for the mesonic spectrum in all the parameter regime for weak magnetic field, while the low-energy expansion from the Bethe-Salpeter equation is only valid for very weak fields where it gives a slight improvement over the semiclassical results. In addition, we confirm the validity of the recent predictions for the baryon spectrum obtained from solving the quantum mechanical three-body problem.
We investigate the dynamics of the three-state Potts quantum spin chain in the extreme ferromagnetic limit using a perturbative expansion in the transverse magnetic field. We demonstrate that a perturbative approach provides access to important features beyond the reach of previous studies, most notably the description of resonant excitations and the analytic prediction of post-quench time evolution. A central focus is the oblique quench regime — a feature unique to the Potts model with no Ising counterpart — in which unconfined kink excitations hybridise with the two-kink bound states. We provide a detailed examination of the analytic structure of the two-kink scattering amplitude, tracing the transformation of stable excitations into resonances near stability thresholds. Our analytical results for the excitation spectra and magnetisation dynamics show excellent agreement with numerical simulations of non-equilibrium dynamics.
We consider non-equilibrium dynamics after quantum quenches in the mixed-field three-state Potts quantum chain in the ferromagnetic regime. Compared to the analogous setting for the Ising spin chain, the Potts model has a much richer phenomenology, which originates partly from baryonic excitations in the spectrum and partly from the various possible relative alignments of the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field. We obtain the excitation spectrum by combining semiclassical approximation and exact diagonalisation, and we use the results to explain the various dynamical behaviours we observe. Besides recovering dynamical confinement, as well as Wannier-Stark localisation due to Bloch oscillations similar to the Ising chain, a novel feature is the presence of baryonic excitations in the quench spectroscopy. In addition, when the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field are misaligned, both confinement and Bloch oscillations only result in partial localisation, with some correlations retaining an unsuppressed light-cone behaviour together with a corresponding growth of entanglement entropy.
We study the particle spectrum M n ( h ) in the two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising field theory in a weak external magnetic field h . According to the Wu and McCoy scenario of the weak confinement, pairs of fermions (domain walls) are coupled into bosonic kink–antikink bound states at small h > 0. Fluctuations with more than two fermions also contribute to the wavefunctions of the compound particles, leading to multi-fermion corrections to their masses M n ( h ) in higher orders in h . We describe a perturbative procedure, which allows us to account for both multi-fermion fluctuations and the long-range confining interaction between fermions, and leads to the formfactor expansions for the renormalized parameters of the model. We obtain integral representations for the third-order multi-fermion correction to the mass M n ( h ), which arises from the regular correction to the kernel of the Bethe–Salpeter equation.
We consider non-equilibrium dynamics after quantum quenches in the mixed-field three-state Potts quantum chain in the ferromagnetic regime. Compared to the analogous setting for the Ising spin chain, the Potts model has a much richer phenomenology, which originates partly from baryonic excitations in the spectrum and partly from the various possible relative alignments of the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field. We obtain the excitation spectrum by combining semi-classical approximation and exact diagonalisation, and we use the results to explain the various dynamical behaviours we observe. Besides recovering dynamical confinement, as well as Wannier-Stark localisation due to Bloch oscillations similar to the Ising chain, a novel feature is the presence of baryonic excitations in the quench spectroscopy. In addition, when the initial magnetisation and the longitudinal field are misaligned, both confinement and Bloch oscillations only result in partial localisation, with some correlations retaining an unsuppressed light-cone behaviour together with a corresponding growth of entanglement entropy.
We investigate the interplay between confinement and Krylov complexity in the long-range transverse-field Ising chain, where power-law interactions ∼1/rα\sim 1/r^α∼1/rα generate an effective confining potential between domain walls without an explicit symmetry-breaking field. Using the time-averaged Krylov state complexity after a quench as a diagnostic, we find that the complexity is strongly suppressed and only weakly system size-dependent at small ααα and small transverse field hxh_xhx​, where confinement is strongest, and crosses over to rapid growth at larger ααα, where it increases with system size. Within the confined regime, the oscillation frequencies of the complexity agree with the meson masses of an effective two-kink model, with the dominant frequency growing linearly with the lightest meson mass and the time-averaged complexity decreasing approximately as its inverse square. We further study operator Krylov complexity at finite temperature using the Wightman inner product. At low temperature, it exhibits bounded oscillations that directly encode the meson spectrum, whereas this structure is progressively washed out as the temperature increases. These results identify Krylov complexity as a spectroscopic probe of interaction-induced confinement and reproduce, in a microscopic lattice model, the hallmarks of Krylov complexity identified in confining field theories.