Quantum critical orbital diamagnetism in correlated Dirac system
Yasuhiro Tada
Abstract
We study orbital diamagnetism in $(2+1)$-dimensional Dirac electrons with a short-range interaction at zero temperature. We introduce orbital magnetic fields into spinless Dirac electrons on the $\pi$-flux square lattice, and analyze them by using infinite density matrix renormalization group. It is found that the diamagnetism remains intact when the short-range interaction $V$ is weak, while it is monotonically suppressed for larger interactions. Around the quantum critical point (QCP) of a charge density wave phase transition, we find a scaling behavior of the ground state energy density characteristic of the chiral Ising universality class. This leads to universal orbital diamagnetism in correlated Dirac electrons around the QCP, which may be regarded as a quantum, magnetic analogue of critical Casimir effect which has been widely studied for classical phase transitions.