Conformality lost

David B. Kaplan, Jong-Wan Lee, Dam T. Son, and Mikhail A. Stephanov
Phys. Rev. D 80, 125005 – Published 3 December 2009

Abstract

We consider zero-temperature transitions from conformal to nonconformal phases in quantum theories. We argue that there are three generic mechanisms for the loss of conformality in any number of dimensions: (i) fixed point goes to zero coupling, (ii) fixed point runs off to infinite coupling, or (iii) an IR fixed point annihilates with a UV fixed point and they both disappear into the complex plane. We give both relativistic and nonrelativistic examples of the last case in various dimensions and show that the critical behavior of the mass gap behaves similarly to the correlation length in the finite temperature Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition in two dimensions, ξexp(c/|TTc|1/2). We speculate that the chiral phase transition in QCD at large number of fermion flavors belongs to this universality class, and attempt to identify the UV fixed point that annihilates with the Banks-Zaks fixed point at the lower end of the conformal window.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 11 August 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.80.125005

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

David B. Kaplan, Jong-Wan Lee, and Dam T. Son

  • Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1550, USA

Mikhail A. Stephanov

  • Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7059, USA

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 80, Iss. 12 — 15 December 2009

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review D

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×