We develop a strong-disorder renormalization group to study quantum phase transitions with continuous O$(N)$ symmetry order parameters under the influence of both quenched disorder and dissipation. For Ohmic dissipation, as realized in Hertz' theory of the itinerant antiferromagnetic transition or in the superconductor-metal transition in nanowires, we find the transition to be governed by an exotic infinite-randomness fixed point in the same universality class as the (dissipationless) random transverse-field Ising model. We determine the critical behavior and calculate key observables at the transition and in the associated quantum Griffiths phase. We also briefly discuss the cases of superohmic and subohmic dissipations.
We study by the strong disorder renormalization group (RG) method the low-energy properties of the one-dimensional Hubbard model with random-hopping matrix-elements $t_{min}<t<t_{max}$, and with random on-site Coulomb repulsion terms $0 \le U_{min}<U<U_{max}$. There are two critical phases, corresponding to an infinite randomness spin random singlet for strong interactions ($U_{min} > t_{max}$) and to an orbital infinite randomness fixed point for vanishing interactions ($U_{max}/t_{max} \to 0$). To each critical infinite randomness fixed point is connected a Griffiths phase, the correlation l…
We study the quantum phase transition in the three-dimensional disordered itinerant antiferromagnet by Monte-Carlo simulations of the order-parameter field theory. We find strong evidence for the transition being controlled by an infinite-randomness fixed point: The dynamical scaling is activated, i.e., the logarithm of the energy scales like a power of the length, implying a dynamical exponent of infinity. The probability distribution of the energy gaps is very broad and becomes broader with increasing system size, even on a logarithmic scale.
We study the ground-state phase diagram of the Ashkin-Teller random quantum spin chain by means of a generalization of the strong-disorder renormalization group. In addition to the conventional paramagnetic and ferromagnetic (Baxter) phases, we find a partially ordered phase characterized by strong randomness and infinite coupling between the colors. This unusual phase acts, at the same time, as a Griffiths phase for two distinct quantum phase transitions both of which are of infinite-randomness type. We also investigate the quantum multi-critical point that separates the two-phase and three-p…
One-dimensional chains of non-Abelian quasiparticles described by $SU(2)_k$ Chern-Simons-Witten theory can enter random singlet phases analogous to that of a random chain of ordinary spin-1/2 particles (corresponding to $k \to \infty$). For $k=2$ this phase provides a random singlet description of the infinite randomness fixed point of the critical transverse field Ising model. The entanglement entropy of a region of size $L$ in these phases scales as $S_L \simeq \frac{\ln d}{3} \log_2 L$ for large $L$, where $d$ is the quantum dimension of the particles.
Topological insulators supporting non-abelian anyonic excitations are at the center of attention as candidates for topological quantum computation. In this paper, we analyze the ground-state properties of disordered non-abelian anyonic chains. The resemblance of fusion rules of non-abelian anyons and real space decimation strongly suggests that disordered chains of such anyons generically exhibit infinite-randomness phases. Concentrating on the disordered golden chain model with nearest-neighbor coupling, we show that Fibonacci anyons with the fusion rule $τ\otimesτ={\bf 1}\oplus τ$ exhibit tw…
Quantum entanglement under an extensive bipartition can reveal the critical boundary theory of a topological phase in the parameter space. In this study we demonstrate that the infinite-randomness fixed point for spin-1/2 degrees of freedom can emerge from an extensive random bipartition of the spin-1 Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki chain. The nested entanglement entropy of the ground state of the reduced density matrix exhibits a logarithmic scaling with an effective central charge $\tilde{c} = 0.72 \pm 0.02 \approx \ln 2$. We further discuss, in the language of bulk quantum entanglement, how to …
We study the effects of dissipation on a disordered quantum phase transition with O$(N)$ order parameter symmetry by applying a strong-disorder renormalization group to the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson field theory of the problem. We find that Ohmic dissipation results in a non-perturbative infinite-randomness critical point with unconventional activated dynamical scaling while superohmic damping leads to conventional behavior. We discuss applications to the superconductor-metal transition in nanowires and to Hertz' theory of the itinerant antiferromagnetic transition.
We study the antiferromagnetic XYZ spin chain with quenched bond randomness, focusing on a critical line between localized Ising magnetic phases. A previous calculation using the spectrum-bifurcation renormalization group, and assuming marginal many-body localization, proposed that critical indices vary continuously. In this work we solve the low-energy physics using an unbiased numerically exact tensor network method named the "rigorous renormalization group." We find a line of fixed points consistent with infinite-randomness phenomenology, with indeed continuously varying critical exponents …
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 …
We investigate the combined influence of quenched randomness and dissipation on a quantum critical point with O(N) order-parameter symmetry. Utilizing a strong-disorder renormalization group, we determine the critical behavior in one space dimension exactly. For superohmic dissipation, we find a Kosterlitz-Thouless type transition with conventional (power-law) dynamical scaling. The dynamical critical exponent depends on the spectral density of the dissipative baths. We also discuss the Griffiths singularities, and we determine observables.
We study transitions between distinct phases of one-dimensional periodically driven (Floquet) systems. We argue that these are generically controlled by infinite-randomness fixed points of a strong-disorder renormalization group procedure. Working in the fermionic representation of the prototypical Floquet Ising chain, we leverage infinite randomness physics to provide a simple description of Floquet (multi)criticality in terms of a new type of domain wall associated with time-translational symmetry-breaking and the formation of `Floquet time crystals'. We validate our analysis via numerical s…
Signatures of infinite randomness in transport properties of disordered spin chains
Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics, The University of Campinas (Unicamp)（坎皮纳斯大学格莱布·瓦塔金物理研究所）；Department of Physics and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University（佛罗里达州立大学物理系及国家高磁场实验室）；São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, IFSC – USP（圣保罗大学圣卡洛斯物理研究所）；Department of Physics, Missouri University of Science and Technology（密苏里科技大学物理系）；Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）
We study the influence of Ohmic dissipation on the random transverse-field Ising chain by means of large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations. To this end, we first map the Hamiltonian onto a classical Ising model with long-range $1/τ^2$ interaction in the time-like direction. We then apply the highly efficient cluster algorithm proposed by Luijten and Blöte for system with long-range interactions. Our simulations show that Ohmic dissipation destroys the infinite-randomness quantum critical point of the dissipationless system. Instead, the quantum phase transition between the paramagnetic and ferroma…
We study the low-energy physics of a chain of Majorana fermions in the presence of interaction and disorder, emphasizing the difference between Majoranas and conventional (complex) fermions. While in the non-interacting limit both models are equivalent (in particular, belong to the same symmetry class BDI and flow towards the same infinite-randomness critical fixed point), their behavior differs drastically once interaction is added. Our density-matrix renormalization group calculations show that the complex-fermion chain remains at the non-interacting fixed point. On the other hand, the Major…
We consider the effect of quenched spatial disorder on systems of interacting, pinned non-Abelian anyons as might arise in disordered Hall samples at filling fractions ν=5/2 or ν=12/5. In one spatial dimension, such disordered anyon models have previously been shown to exhibit a hierarchy of infinite randomness phases. Here, we address systems in two spatial dimensions and report on the behavior of Ising and Fibonacci anyons under the numerical strong-disorder renormalization group (SDRG). In order to manage the topology-dependent interactions generated during the flow, we introduce a planar a…
We study quantum phase transitions in transverse-field Ising spin chains in which the couplings are random but hyperuniform, in the sense that their large-scale fluctuations are suppressed. We construct a one-parameter family of disorder models in which long-wavelength fluctuations are increasingly suppressed as a parameter $α$ is tuned. For $α= 0$, one recovers the familiar infinite-randomness critical point. For $0 < α< 1$, we find a line of infinite-randomness critical points with continuously varying critical exponents; however, the Griffiths phases that flank the critical point at $α= 0$ …
The $N$-color quantum Ashkin-Teller spin chain is a prototypical model for the study of strong-randomness phenomena at first-order and continuous quantum phase transitions. In this paper, we first review the existing strong-disorder renormalization group approaches to the random quantum Ashkin-Teller chain in the weak-coupling as well as the strong-coupling regimes. We then introduce a novel general variable transformation that unifies the treatment of the strong-coupling regime. This allows us to determine the phase diagram for all color numbers $N$, and the critical behavior for all $N \ne 4…
We consider the behavior of the Grüneisen parameter, the ratio between thermal expansion and specific heat, at pressure-tuned infinite-randomness quantum-critical points and in the associated quantum Griffiths phases. We find that the Grüneisen parameter diverges as $\ln(T_0/T)$ with vanishing temperature $T$ in the quantum Griffiths phases. At the infinite-randomness critical point itself, the Grüneisen parameter behaves as $[\ln(T_0/T)]^{1+1/(νψ)}$ where $ν$ and $ψ$ are the correlation length and tunneling exponents. Analogous results hold for the magnetocaloric effect at magnetic-field tune…
Random spin chains at quantum critical points exhibit an entanglement entropy between a segment of length L and the rest of the chain that scales as log_2 L with a universal coefficient. Since for pure quantum critical spin chains this coefficient is fixed by the central charge of the associated conformal field theory, the universal coefficient in the random case can be understood as an effective central charge. In this paper we calculate the entanglement entropy and effective central charge of the spin-1 random Heisenberg model in its random-singlet phase and also at the critical point at whi…
We develop a theory of viscous dissipation in one-dimensional single-component quantum liquids at low temperatures. Such liquids are characterized by a single viscosity coefficient, the bulk viscosity. We show that for a generic interaction between the constituent particles this viscosity diverges in the zero-temperature limit. In the special case of integrable models, the viscosity is infinite at any temperature, which can be interpreted as a breakdown of the hydrodynamic description. Our consideration is applicable to all single-component Galilean-invariant one-dimensional quantum liquids, r…
