Metallic and Deconfined Quantum Criticality in Dirac Systems
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Motivated by the physics of spin-orbital liquids, we study a model of interacting Dirac fermions on a bilayer honeycomb lattice at half filling, featuring an explicit global SO(3)×U(1) symmetry. Using large-scale auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, we locate two zero-temperature phase transitions as function of increasing interaction strength. First, we observe a continuous transition from the weakly interacting semimetal to a different semimetallic phase in which the SO(3) symmetry is spontaneously broken and where two out of three Dirac cones acquire a mass gap. The associated quantum critical point can be understood in terms of a Gross-Neveu-SO(3) theory. Second, we subsequently observe a transition toward an insulating phase in which the SO(3) symmetry is restored and the U(1) symmetry is spontaneously broken. While strongly first order at the mean-field level, the QMC data are consistent with a direct and continuous transition. It is thus a candidate for a new type of deconfined quantum critical point that features gapless fermionic degrees of freedom.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 087201 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Physical review letters |
Volume | 128 |
Issue number | 8 |
Publication status | Published - 23 Feb 2022 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
Scopus | 85125573741 |
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WOS | 000766949800005 |
Mendeley | 1d7fb761-9945-3ee7-92f0-21e30206df07 |