Deconfined Quantum Critical Points

By T. Senthil, Ashvin Vishwanath, L. Balents, S. Sachdev, Matthew Fisher. Science, 2003

1,089 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The theory of second-order phase transitions is one of the foundations of modern statistical mechanics and condensed-matter theory. A central concept is the observable order parameter, whose nonzero average value characterizes one or more phases. At large distances and long times, fluctuations of the order parameter(s) are described by a continuum field theory, and these dominate the physics near such phase transitions. We show that near second-order quantum phase transitions, subtle quantum interference effects can invalidate this paradigm, and we present a theory of quantum critical points in a variety of experimentally relevant two-dimensional antiferromagnets. The critical points separate phases characterized by conventional “confining” order parameters. Nevertheless, the critical theory contains an emergent gauge field and “deconfined” degrees of freedom associated with fractionalization of the order parameters. We propose that this paradigm for quantum criticality may be the key to resolving a number of experimental puzzles in correlated electron systems and offer a new perspective on the properties of complex materials.

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Condensed Matter Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a87cc48b3b7d635799557c8e40912e7cf07e6f03

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In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

In Condensed Matter Physics

Citations in the corpus

Deconfined quantum critical points: symmetries and dualities (2017, background): “Physically the breakdown of the Landau paradigm occurs because the topological defects of either order parameter carry nontrivial quantum numbers: the Skyrmion defect of the Néel phase carries quantum numbers under lattice symmetries [4,5,54,55], and the vortex defect of the VBS phase carries spin 1”
Lectures on holographic non-Fermi liquids and quantum phase transitions (2011, background): “These experimental examples also inspired new theoretical findings of quantum critical points lying outside the Landau paradigm, including “local quantum critical points” [29] and “deconfined quantum critical points” [30].”
The physics of quantum materials (2017, background): “At the quantum transition separating these phases, the many-electron wavefunction is entangled over macroscopic distances, and novel fractionalized quasiparticles unlike those on either side of the transition have been predicted 117 .”
Quantum Excitations in Quantum Spin Ice (2011, methodology): “Theoretically, such quantum critical points have been studied in related model Hamiltonians, and occur by a mechanism analogous to the Higgs transition in the standard model [25] or by magnetic monopole condensation [26].”
Physics of three dimensional bosonic topological insulators: Surface Deconfined Criticality and Quantized Magnetoelectric Effect (2012, background): “Alternatively, the surface can remain insulating, while breaking time-reversal symmetry.”
Semi-holographic Fermi liquids (2010, background): “The holography is playing a role in determining the correlators in the strongly coupled theory, where the density fractionalizes [31] as in the earlier discussion.”
Comments on abelian Higgs models and persistent order (2017, methodology): “For example, the case of p = 1, N = 2 in 3d describes the Néel-VBS transition [4,5] while the case of p = 1, N = 2 and θ = π in 2d describes the Haldane model with halfinteger spin [15,16].”