Solving the puzzle of an unconventional phase transition for a 2d dimerized quantum Heisenberg model

Motivated by the indication of a new critical theory for the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model with a spatially staggered anisotropy on the square lattice as suggested in \cite{Wenzel08}, we re-investigate the phase transition of this model induced by dimerization using first principle Monte Carlo simulations. We focus on studying the finite-size scaling of $\rho_{s1} 2L$ and $\rho_{s2} 2L$, where $L$ stands for the spatial box size used in the simulations and $\rho_{si}$ with $i \in \{1,2\}$ is the spin-stiffness in the $i$-direction. Remarkably, while we do observe a large correction to scaling for the observable $\rho_{s1}2L$ as proposed in \cite{Fritz11}, the data for $\rho_{s2}2L$ exhibit a good scaling behavior without any indication of a large correction. As a consequence, we are able to obtain a numerical value for the critical exponent $\nu$ which is consistent with the known O(3) result with moderate computational effort. Specifically, the numerical value of $\nu$ we determine by fitting the data points of $\rho_{s2}2L$ to their expected scaling form is given by $\nu=0.7120(16)$, which agrees quantitatively with the most accurate known Monte Carlo O(3) result $\nu = 0.7112(5)$. Finally, while we can also obtain a result of $\nu$ from the observable second Binder ratio $Q_2$ which is consistent with $\nu=0.7112(5)$, the uncertainty of $\nu$ calculated from $Q_2$ is more than twice as large as that of $\nu$ determined from $\rho_{s2}2L$.Comment: 7 figures, 1 table; brief repor

Many-body spin interactions and the ground state of a dense Rydberg lattice gas

We study a one-dimensional atomic lattice gas in which Rydberg atoms are excited by a laser and whose external dynamics is frozen. We identify a parameter regime in which the Hamiltonian is well-approximated by a spin Hamiltonian with quasi-local many-body interactions which possesses an exact analytic ground state solution. This state is a superposition of all states of the system that are compatible with an interaction induced constraint weighted by a fugacity. We perform a detailed analysis of this state which exhibits a cross-over between a paramagnetic phase with short-ranged correlations and a crystal. This study also leads us to a class of spin models with many-body interactions that permit an analytic ground state solution

Continuum quantum ferromagnets at finite temperature and the Quantum Hall effect

We study finite temperature ($T$) properties of the continuum quantum field theory of systems with a ferromagnetic ground state. A scaling theory of the $T=0$ system is discussed carefully, and its consequences for crossovers between different finite $T$ regimes in dimensions 1, 2, and 3 are described. The results are compared with recent NMR measurements of the magnetization of a quantum Hall system with filling factor $\nu=1$; we predict that the relaxation rate $1/T_1$ of this system may have a finite $T$ ``ferromagnetic coherence peak''.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 3 postscript figure

Metallic spin glasses

Recent work on the zero temperature phases and phase transitions of strongly random electronic system is reviewed. The transition between the spin glass and quantum paramagnet is examined, for both metallic and insulating systems. Insight gained from the solution of infinite range models leads to a quantum field theory for the transition between a metallic quantum paramagnetic and a metallic spin glass. The finite temperature phase diagram is described and crossover functions are computed in mean field theory. A study of fluctuations about mean field leads to the formulation of scaling hypotheses.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the ITP Santa Barbara conference on Non-Fermi liquids, 25 pages, requires IOP style file

Dissipation effects in random transverse-field Ising chains

We study the effects of Ohmic, super-Ohmic, and sub-Ohmic dissipation on the zero-temperature quantum phase transition in the random transverse-field Ising chain by means of an (asymptotically exact) analytical strong-disorder renormalization-group approach. We find that Ohmic damping destabilizes the infinite-randomness critical point and the associated quantum Griffiths singularities of the dissipationless system. The quantum dynamics of large magnetic clusters freezes completely which destroys the sharp phase transition by smearing. The effects of sub-Ohmic dissipation are similar and also lead to a smeared transition. In contrast, super-Ohmic damping is an irrelevant perturbation; the critical behavior is thus identical to that of the dissipationless system. We discuss the resulting phase diagrams, the behavior of various observables, and the implications to higher dimensions and experiments.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures; (v2) minor changes, published versio

Quantum criticality of a Bose gas in an optical lattice near the Mott transition

We derive the equation of state of bosons in an optical lattice in the framework of the Bose-Hubbard model. Near the density-driven Mott transition, the expression of the pressure P({\mu},T) versus chemical potential and temperature is similar to that of a dilute Bose gas but with renormalized mass m^* and scattering length a^*. m^* is the mass of the elementary excitations at the quantum critical point governing the transition from the superfluid phase to the Mott insulating phase, while a^* is related to their effective interaction at low energy. We use a nonperturbative renormalization-group approach to compute these parameters as a function of the ratio t/U between hopping amplitude and on-site repulsion.Comment: v1) 4 pages, 6 figures. v2) Significant rewriting (new title) with more emphasis on the quantum critical behavior near the Mott transitio

Spin dynamics across the superfluid-insulator transition of spinful bosons

Bosons with non-zero spin exhibit a rich variety of superfluid and insulating phases. Most phases support coherent spin oscillations, which have been the focus of numerous recent experiments. These spin oscillations are Rabi oscillations between discrete levels deep in the insulator, while deep in the superfluid they can be oscillations in the orientation of a spinful condensate. We describe the evolution of spin oscillations across the superfluid-insulator quantum phase transition. For transitions with an order parameter carrying spin, the damping of such oscillations is determined by the scaling dimension of the composite spin operator. For transitions with a spinless order parameter and gapped spin excitations, we demonstrate that the damping is determined by an associated quantum impurity problem of a localized spin excitation interacting with the bulk critical modes. We present a renormalization group analysis of the quantum impurity problem, and discuss the relationship of our results to experiments on ultracold atoms in optical lattices.Comment: 43 pages (single-column format), 8 figures; v2: corrected discussion of fixed points in Section V

Quantum critical dynamics of the two-dimensional Bose gas

The dilute, two-dimensional Bose gas exhibits a novel regime of relaxational dynamics in the regime k_B T > |\mu| where T is the absolute temperature and \mu is the chemical potential. This may also be interpreted as the quantum criticality of the zero density quantum critical point at \mu=0. We present a theory for this dynamics, to leading order in 1/\ln (\Lambda/ (k_B T)), where \Lambda is a high energy cutoff. Although pairwise interactions between the bosons are weak at low energy scales, the collective dynamics are strongly coupled even when \ln (\Lambda/T) is large. We argue that the strong-coupling effects can be isolated in an effective classical model, which is then solved numerically. Applications to experiments on the gap-closing transition of spin gap antiferromagnets in an applied field are presented.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Universal relaxational dynamics of gapped one dimensional models in the quantum sine-Gordon universality class

A semiclassical approach to the low-temperature real time dynamics of generic one-dimensional, gapped models in the sine-Gordon model universality class is developed. Asymptotically exact universal results for correlation functions are obtained in the temperature regime T << Delta, where Delta is the energy gap.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur