Emergent Lorentz Symmetry with Vanishing Velocity in a Critical Two-Subband Quantum Wire

M. Sitte, A. Rosch, J. S. Meyer, K. A. Matveev, and M. Garst
Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 176404 – Published 30 April 2009

Abstract

We consider a quantum wire with two subbands of spin-polarized electrons in the presence of strong interactions. We focus on the quantum phase transition when the second subband starts to get filled as a function of gate voltage. Performing a one-loop renormalization group analysis of the effective Hamiltonian, we identify the critical fixed-point theory as a conformal field theory having an enhanced SU(2) symmetry and central charge 3/2. While the fixed point is Lorentz invariant, the effective “speed of light” nevertheless vanishes at low energies due to marginally irrelevant operators leading to a diverging critical specific heat coefficient.

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  • Received 27 November 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.176404

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Sitte1, A. Rosch1, J. S. Meyer2, K. A. Matveev3, and M. Garst1

  • 1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
  • 3Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

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Issue

Vol. 102, Iss. 17 — 1 May 2009

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