Doping-Induced Quantum Spin Hall Insulator to Superconductor Transition.

A quantum spin Hall insulating state that arises from spontaneous symmetry breaking has remarkable properties: skyrmion textures of the SO(3) order parameter carry charge 2e. Doping this state of matter opens a new route to superconductivity via the condensation of skyrmions. We define a model amenable to large-scale negative sign free quantum Monte Carlo simulations that allows us to study this transition. Our results support a direct and continuous doping-induced transition between the quantum spin Hall insulator and an s-wave superconductor. We can resolve dopings away from half-filling down to δ=0.0017. Such routes to superconductivity have been put forward in the realm of twisted bilayer graphene.

Extreme Suppression of Antiferromagnetic Order and Critical Scaling in a Two-Dimensional Random Quantum Magnet.

Sr_{2}CuTeO_{6} is a square-lattice Néel antiferromagnet with superexchange between first-neighbor S=1/2 Cu spins mediated by plaquette centered Te ions. Substituting Te by W, the affected impurity plaquettes have predominantly second-neighbor interactions, thus causing local magnetic frustration. Here we report a study of Sr_{2}CuTe_{1-x}W_{x}O_{6} using neutron diffraction and µSR techniques, showing that the Néel order vanishes already at x=0.025±0.005. We explain this extreme order suppression using a two-dimensional Heisenberg spin model, demonstrating that a W-type impurity induces a deformation of the order parameter that decays with distance as 1/r^{2} at temperature T=0. The associated logarithmic singularity leads to loss of order for any x>0. Order for small x>0 and T>0 is induced by weak interplane couplings. In the nonmagnetic phase of Sr_{2}CuTe_{1-x}W_{x}O_{6}, the µSR relaxation rate exhibits quantum critical scaling with a large dynamic exponent, z≈3, consistent with a random-singlet state.

Monte Carlo Renormalization Flows in the Space of Relevant and Irrelevant Operators: Application to Three-Dimensional Clock Models.

We study renormalization group flows in a space of observables computed by Monte Carlo simulations. As an example, we consider three-dimensional clock models, i.e., the XY spin model perturbed by a Z_{q} symmetric anisotropy field. For q=4, 5, 6, a scaling function with two relevant arguments describes all stages of the complex renormalization flow at the critical point and in the ordered phase, including the crossover from the U(1) Nambu-Goldstone fixed point to the ultimate Z_{q} symmetry-breaking fixed point. We expect our method to be useful in the context of quantum-critical points with inherent dangerously irrelevant operators that cannot be tuned away microscopically but whose renormalization flows can be analyzed as we do here for the clock models.

Three-state Potts model on the centered triangular lattice.

We study phase transitions of the Potts model on the centered-triangular lattice with two types of couplings, namely, K between neighboring triangular sites, and J between the centered and the triangular sites. Results are obtained by means of a finite-size analysis based on numerical transfer-matrix calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Our investigation covers the whole (K,J) phase diagram, but we find that most of the interesting physics applies to the antiferromagnetic case K<0, where the model is geometrically frustrated. In particular, we find that there are, for all finite J, two transitions when K is varied. Their critical properties are explored. In the limits J→±∞ we find algebraic phases with infinite-order transitions to the ferromagnetic phase.

Superconductivity from the condensation of topological defects in a quantum spin-Hall insulator.

The discovery of quantum spin-Hall (QSH) insulators has brought topology to the forefront of condensed matter physics. While a QSH state from spin-orbit coupling can be fully understood in terms of band theory, fascinating many-body effects are expected if it instead results from spontaneous symmetry breaking. Here, we introduce a model of interacting Dirac fermions where a QSH state is dynamically generated. Our tuning parameter further allows us to destabilize the QSH state in favour of a superconducting state through proliferation of charge-2e topological defects. This route to superconductivity put forward by Grover and Senthil is an instance of a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP). Our model offers the possibility to study DQCPs without a second length scale associated with the reduced symmetry between field theory and lattice realization and, by construction, is amenable to large-scale fermion quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

Anomalous Quantum-Critical Scaling Corrections in Two-Dimensional Antiferromagnets.

We study the Néel-paramagnetic quantum phase transition in two-dimensional dimerized S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets using finite-size scaling of quantum Monte Carlo data. We resolve the long-standing issue of the role of cubic interactions arising in the bond-operator representation when the dimer pattern lacks a certain symmetry. We find nonmonotonic (monotonic) size dependence in the staggered (columnar) dimerized model, where cubic interactions are (are not) present. We conclude that there is a new irrelevant field in the staggered model, but, at variance with previous claims, it is not the leading irrelevant field. The new exponent is ω_{2}≈1.25 and the prefactor of the correction L^{-ω_{2}} is large and comes with a different sign from that of the conventional correction with ω_{1}≈0.78. Our study highlights competing scaling corrections at quantum critical points.

Engineering Surface Critical Behavior of (2+1)-Dimensional O(3) Quantum Critical Points.

Surface critical behavior (SCB) refers to the singularities of physical quantities on the surface at the bulk phase transition. It is closely related to and even richer than the bulk critical behavior. In this work, we show that three types of SCB universality are realized in the dimerized Heisenberg models at the (2+1)-dimensional O(3) quantum critical points by engineering the surface configurations. The ordinary transition happens if the surface is gapped in the bulk disordered phase, while the gapless surface state generally leads to the multicritical special transition, even though the latter is precluded in classical phase transitions because the surface is in the lower critical dimension. An extraordinary transition is induced by the ferrimagnetic order on the surface of the staggered Heisenberg model, in which the surface critical exponents violate the results of the scaling theory and thus seriously challenge our current understanding of extraordinary transitions.

Equivalent-neighbor Potts models in two dimensions.

We investigate the two-dimensional q=3 and 4 Potts models with a variable interaction range by means of Monte Carlo simulations. We locate the phase transitions for several interaction ranges as expressed by the number z of equivalent neighbors. For not-too-large z, the transitions fit well in the universality classes of the short-range Potts models. However, at longer ranges, the transitions become discontinuous. For q=3 we locate a tricritical point separating the continuous and discontinuous transitions near z=80, and a critical fixed point between z=8 and 12. For q=4 the transition becomes discontinuous for z>16. The scaling behavior of the q=4 model with z=16 approximates that of the q=4 merged critical-tricritical fixed point predicted by the renormalization scenario.

Special transitions in an O(n) loop model with an Ising-like constraint.

We investigate the O(n) nonintersecting loop model on the square lattice under the constraint that the loops consist of 90-deg bends only. The model is governed by the loop weight n, a weight x for each vertex of the lattice visited once by a loop, and a weight z for each vertex visited twice by a loop. We explore the (x,z) phase diagram for some values of n. For 01, the O(n)-like transition line appears to be absent. Thus, for z=0, the (n,x) phase diagram displays a line of phase transitions for n≤1. The line ends at n=1 in an infinite-order transition. We determine the conformal anomaly and the critical exponents along this line. These results agree accurately with a recent proposal for the universal classification of this type of model, at least in most of the range -1≤n≤1. We also determine the exponent describing crossover to the generic O(n) universality class, by introducing topological defects associated with the introduction of "straight" vertices violating the 90-deg-bend rule. These results are obtained by means of transfer-matrix calculations and finite-size scaling.

Quantum criticality with two length scales.

The theory of deconfined quantum critical (DQC) points describes phase transitions at absolute temperature T = 0 outside the standard paradigm, predicting continuous transformations between certain ordered states where conventional theory would require discontinuities. Numerous computer simulations have offered no proof of such transitions, instead finding deviations from expected scaling relations that neither were predicted by the DQC theory nor conform to standard scenarios. Here we show that this enigma can be resolved by introducing a critical scaling form with two divergent length scales. Simulations of a quantum magnet with antiferromagnetic and dimerized ground states confirm the form, proving a continuous transition with deconfined excitations and also explaining anomalous scaling at T > 0. Our findings revise prevailing paradigms for quantum criticality, with potential implications for many strongly correlated materials.

Completely packed O(n) loop models and their relation with exactly solved coloring models.

We investigate the completely packed O(n) loop model on the square lattice, and its generalization to an Eulerian graph model, which follows by including cubic vertices which connect the four incoming loop segments. This model includes crossing bonds as well. Our study was inspired by existing exact solutions of the so-called coloring model due to Schultz and Perk [Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 629 (1981)], which is shown to be equivalent with our generalized loop model. We explore the physical properties and the phase diagram of this model by means of transfer-matrix calculations and finite-size scaling. The exact results, which include seven one-dimensional branches in the parameter space of our generalized loop model, are compared to our numerical results. The results for the phase behavior also extend to parts of the parameter space beyond the exactly solved subspaces. One of the exactly solved branches describes the case of nonintersecting loops and was already known to correspond with the ordering transition of the Potts model. Another exactly solved branch, describing a model with nonintersecting loops and cubic vertices, corresponds with a first-order, Ising-like phase transition for n>2. For 12 this branch is the locus of a first-order phase boundary between a phase with a hard-square, lattice-gas-like ordering and a phase dominated by cubic vertices. A mean-field argument explains the first-order nature of this transition.

Anomalous quantum glass of bosons in a random potential in two dimensions.

We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of the "quantum glass" phase of the two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with random potentials at filling ρ=1. In the narrow region between the Mott and superfluid phases, the compressibility has the form κ∼exp(-b/T^{α})+c with α<1 and c vanishing or very small. Thus, at T=0 the system is either incompressible (a Mott glass) or nearly incompressible (a Mott-glass-like anomalous Bose glass). At stronger disorder, where a glass reappears from the superfluid, we find a conventional highly compressible Bose glass. On a path connecting these states, away from the superfluid at larger Hubbard repulsion, a change of the disorder strength by only 10% changes the low-temperature compressibility by more than 4 orders of magnitude, lending support to two types of glass states separated by a phase transition or a sharp crossover.

Rényi information flow in the Ising model with single-spin dynamics.

The n-index Rényi mutual information and transfer entropies for the two-dimensional kinetic Ising model with arbitrary single-spin dynamics in the thermodynamic limit are derived as functions of ensemble averages of observables and spin-flip probabilities. Cluster Monte Carlo algorithms with different dynamics from the single-spin dynamics are thus applicable to estimate the transfer entropies. By means of Monte Carlo simulations with the Wolff algorithm, we calculate the information flows in the Ising model with the Metropolis dynamics and the Glauber dynamics, respectively. We find that not only the global Rényi transfer entropy, but also the pairwise Rényi transfer entropy, peaks in the disorder phase.

Ising-like phase transition of an n-component Eulerian face-cubic model.

By means of Monte Carlo simulations and a finite-size scaling analysis, we find a critical line of an n-component Eulerian face-cubic model on the square lattice and the simple cubic lattice in the region v>1, where v is the bond weight. The phase transition belongs to the Ising universality class independent of n. The critical properties of the phase transition can also be captured by the percolation of the complement of the Eulerian graph.

Critical properties of the Hintermann-Merlini model.

Many critical properties of the Hintermann-Merlini model are known exactly through the mapping to the eight-vertex model. Wu [J. Phys. C 8, 2262 (1975)] calculated the spontaneous magnetizations of the model on two sublattices by relating them to the conjectured spontaneous magnetization and polarization of the eight-vertex model, respectively. The latter conjecture remains unproved. In this paper we numerically study the critical properties of the model by means of a finite-size scaling analysis based on transfer matrix calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. All analytic predictions for the model are confirmed by our numerical results. The central charge c=1 is found for the critical manifold investigated. In addition, some unpredicted geometric properties of the model are studied. Fractal dimensions of the largest Ising clusters on two sublattices are determined. The fractal dimension of the largest Ising cluster on the sublattice A takes a fixed value D(a)=1.888(2), while that for sublattice B varies continuously with the parameters of the model.

Ising-like transitions in the O(n) loop model on the square lattice.

We explore the phase diagram of the O(n) loop model on the square lattice in the (x,n) plane, where x is the weight of a lattice edge covered by a loop. These results are based on transfer-matrix calculations and finite-size scaling. We express the correlation length associated with the staggered loop density in the transfer-matrix eigenvalues. The finite-size data for this correlation length, combined with the scaling formula, reveal the location of critical lines in the diagram. For n>>2 we find Ising-like phase transitions associated with the onset of a checkerboardlike ordering of the elementary loops, i.e., the smallest possible loops, with the size of an elementary face, which cover precisely one-half of the faces of the square lattice at the maximum loop density. In this respect, the ordered state resembles that of the hard-square lattice gas with nearest-neighbor exclusion, and the finiteness of n represents a softening of its particle-particle potentials. We also determine critical points in the range -2≤n≤2. It is found that the topology of the phase diagram depends on the set of allowed vertices of the loop model. Depending on the choice of this set, the n>2 transition may continue into the dense phase of the n≤2 loop model, or continue as a line of n≤2 O(n) multicritical points.

Shape-dependent finite-size effect of the critical two-dimensional Ising model on a triangular lattice.

Using a bond-propagation algorithm, we study the finite-size behavior of the critical two-dimensional Ising model on a finite triangular lattice with free boundaries in five shapes: triangular, rhomboid, trapezoid, hexagonal, and rectangular. The critical free energy, internal energy, and specific heat are calculated. The accuracy of the free energy reaches 10(-26). Based on accurate data on several finite systems with linear size up to N=2000, we extract the bulk, surface, and corner parts of the free energy, internal energy, and specific heat accurately. We confirm the conformal field theory prediction that the corner free energy is universal and find logarithmic corrections in higher-order terms in the critical free energy for the rhomboid, trapezoid, and hexagonal systems, which are absent for the triangular and rectangular systems. The logarithmic edge corrections due to edges parallel or perpendicular to the bond directions in the internal energy are found to be identical, while the logarithmic edge corrections due to corresponding edges in the specific heat are different. The corner internal energy and corner specific heat for angles π/3, π/2, and 2π/3 are obtained, as well as higher-order corrections. Comparing with the corner internal energy and corner specific heat we previously found on a rectangle of the square lattice [Phys. Rev. E 86, 041149 (2012)], we conclude that the corner internal energy and corner specific heat for the rectangular shape are not universal.

Finite-size behavior of the critical Ising model on a rectangle with free boundaries.

Using the bond-propagation algorithm, we study the Ising model on a rectangle of size M×N with free boundaries. For five aspect ratios, ρ=M/N=1, 2, 4, 8, and 16, the critical free energy, internal energy and specific heat are calculated. The largest size reached is M×N=64×10(6). The accuracy of the free energy reaches 10(-26). Based on these accurate data, we determine exact expansions of the critical free energy, internal energy, and specific heat. With these expansions, we extract the bulk, surface, and corner parts of the free energy, internal energy, and specific heat. The fitted bulk free energy density is given by f(∞)=0.92969539834161021499(1), compared with Onsager's exact result f(∞)=0.929695398341610214985.... We confirm the conformal field theory (CFT) prediction of the corner free energy, in which the central charge of the Ising model is found to be c=0.5±1×10(-10), compared with the CFT result c=0.5. We find that not only the corner free energy but also the corner internal energy and specific heat are geometry independent, i.e., independent of aspect ratio. The implication of this finding for finite-size scaling is discussed. In the second-order correction of the free energy, we confirm the geometry dependence predicted by CFT and determine a geometry-independent constant beyond CFT. High-order corrections are also obtained.

Critical points of the O(n) loop model on the martini and the 3-12 lattices.

We derive the critical line of the O(n) loop model on the martini lattice as a function of the loop weight n basing on the critical points on the honeycomb lattice conjectured by Nienhuis [Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 1062 (1982)]. In the limit n→0 we prove the connective constant µ=1.7505645579⋯ of self-avoiding walks on the martini lattice. A finite-size scaling analysis based on transfer matrix calculations is also performed. The numerical results coincide with the theoretical predictions with a very high accuracy. Using similar numerical methods, we also study the O(n) loop model on the 3-12 lattice. We obtain similarly precise agreement with the critical points given by Batchelor [J. Stat. Phys. 92, 1203 (1998)].

Critical manifold of the Potts model: exact results and homogeneity approximation.

The q-state Potts model has stood at the frontier of research in statistical mechanics for many years. In the absence of a closed-form solution, much of the past effort has focused on locating its critical manifold, trajectory in the parameter (q,e(J)) space where J is the reduced interaction, along which the free energy is singular. However, except in isolated cases, antiferromagnetic (AF) models with J<0 have been largely neglected. In this paper we consider the Potts model with AF interactions focusing on obtaining its critical manifold in exact and/or closed-form expressions. We first reexamine the known critical frontiers in light of AF interactions. For the square lattice we confirm the Potts self-dual point to be the sole critical frontier for J>0. We also locate its critical frontier for J<0 and find it to coincide with a solvability condition observed by Baxter in 1982 [R. J. Baxter, Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. A 388, 43 (1982)]. For the honeycomb lattice we show that the known critical frontier holds for all J, and determine its critical q(c) = 1/2(3 + sqrt[5]) = 2.61803 beyond which there is no transition. For the triangular lattice we confirm the known critical frontier to hold only for J>0. More generally we consider the centered-triangle (CT) and Union-Jack (UJ) lattices consisting of mixed J and K interactions, and deduce critical manifolds under homogeneity hypotheses. For K = 0 the CT lattice is the diced lattice, and we determine its critical manifold for all J and find q(c) = 3.32472. For K = 0 the UJ lattice is the square lattice and from this we deduce both the J > 0 and J < 0 critical manifolds and q(c) = 3. Our theoretical predictions are compared with recent numerical results.