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Register a new userCurvature function renormalisation, topological phase transitions and multicriticality
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A recently proposed curvature renormalization group scheme for topological phase transitions defines a generic `curvature function as a function of the parameters of the theory and shows that topological phase transitions are signalled by the divergence of this function at certain parameters values, called critical points, in analogy with usual phase transitions. A renormalization group procedure was also introduced as a way of flowing away from the critical point towards a fixed point, where an appropriately defined correlation function goes to zero and topological quantum numbers characterising the phase are easy to compute. In this paper, using two independent models - a model in the AIII symmetry class and a model in the BDI symmetry class - in one dimension as examples, we show that there are cases where the fixed point curve and the critical point curve appear to intersect, which turn out to be multi-critical points, and focus on understanding its implications.
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One of the most exciting phenomena observed in crystalline disordered membranes, including a suspended graphene, is rippling, i.e. a formation of static flexural deformations. Despite an active research, it still remains unclear whether the rippled phase exists in the thermodynamic limit, or it is destroyed by thermal fluctuations. We demonstrate that a sufficiently strong short-range disorder stabilizes ripples, whereas in the case of a weak disorder the thermal flexural fluctuations dominate in the thermodynamic limit. The phase diagram of the disordered suspended graphene contains two separatrices: the crumpling transition line dividing the flat and crumpled phases and the rippling transition line demarking the rippled and clean phases. At the intersection of the separatrices there is the unstable, multicritical point which splits up all four phases. Most remarkably, rippled and clean flat phases are described by a single stable fixed point which belongs to the rippling transition line. Coexistence of two flat phases in the single point is possible due to non-analiticity in corresponding renormalization group equations and reflects non-commutativity of limits of vanishing thermal and rippling fluctuations.
The traditional concept of phase transitions has, in recent years, been widened in a number of interesting ways. The concept of a topological phase transition separating phases with a different ground state topology, rather than phases of different symmetries, has become a large widely studied field in its own right. Additionally an analogy between phase transitions, described by non-analyticities in the derivatives of the free energy, and non-analyticities which occur in dynamically evolving correlation functions has been drawn. These are called dynamical phase transitions and one is often now far from the equilibrium situation. In these short lecture notes we will give a brief overview of the history of these concepts, focusing in particular on the way in which dynamical phase transitions themselves can be used to shed light on topological phase transitions and topological phases. We will go on to focus, first, on the effect which the topologically protected edge states, which are one of the interesting consequences of topological phases, have on dynamical phase transitions. Second we will consider what happens in the experimentally relevant situations where the system begins either in a thermal state rather than the ground state, or exchanges particles with an external environment.
The experimental discovery of the fractional Hall conductivity in two-dimensional electron gases revealed new types of quantum particles, called anyons, which are beyond bosons and fermions as they possess fractionalized exchange statistics. These anyons are usually studied deep inside an insulating topological phase. It is natural to ask whether such fractionalization can be detected more broadly, say near a phase transition from a conventional to a topological phase. To answer this question, we study a strongly correlated quantum phase transition between a topological state, called a $mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquid, and a conventional superfluid using large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that the universal conductivity at the quantum critical point becomes a simple fraction of its value at the conventional insulator-to-superfluid transition. Moreover, a dynamically self-dual optical conductivity emerges at low temperatures above the transition point, indicating the presence of the elusive vison particles. Our study opens the door for the experimental detection of anyons in a broader regime, and has ramifications in the study of quantum materials, programmable quantum simulators, and ultra-cold atomic gases. In the latter case, we discuss the feasibility of measurements in optical lattices using current techniques.
The interest in the topological properties of materials brings into question the problem of topological phase transitions. As a control parameter is varied, one may drive a system through phases with different topological properties. What is the nature of these transitions and how can we characterize them? The usual Landau approach, with the concept of an order parameter that is finite in a symmetry broken phase is not useful in this context. Topological transitions do not imply a change of symmetry and there is no obvious order parameter. A crucial observation is that they are associated with a diverging length that allows a scaling approach and to introduce critical exponents which define their universality classes. At zero temperature the critical exponents obey a quantum hyperscaling relation. We study finite size effects at topological transitions and show they exhibit universal behavior due to scaling. We discuss the possibility that they become discontinuous as a consequence of these effects and point out the relevance of our study for real systems.
Topological phase transitions in a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) with an exchange field of strength $g$ are studied by calculating spin Chern numbers $C^pm(k_z)$ with momentum $k_z$ as a parameter. When $|g|$ exceeds a critical value $g_c$, a transition of the 3D TI into a Weyl semimetal occurs, where two Weyl points appear as critical points separating $k_z$ regions with different first Chern numbers. For $|g|<g_c$, $C^pm(k_z)$ undergo a transition from $pm 1$ to 0 with increasing $|k_z|$ to a critical value $k_z^{tiny C}$. Correspondingly, surface states exist for $|k_z| < k_z^{tiny C}$, and vanish for $|k_z| ge k_z^{tiny C}$. The transition at $|k_z| = k_z^{tiny C}$ is acompanied by closing of spin spectrum gap rather than energy gap.
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