Unconventional Surface Critical Behavior Induced by a Quantum Phase Transition from the Two-Dimensional Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki Phase to a Néel-Ordered Phase

Long Zhang and Fa Wang
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 087201 – Published 21 February 2017
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Abstract

A symmetry-protected topological phase has nontrivial surface states in the presence of certain symmetries, which can either be gapless or be degenerate. In this work, we study the physical consequence of such gapless surface states at the bulk quantum phase transition (QPT) that spontaneously breaks these symmetries. The two-dimensional Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki phase on a square lattice and its QPTs to Néel ordered phases are realized with the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on a decorated square lattice. With large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that even though the bulk QPTs are governed by the conventional Landau phase transition theory, the gapless surface states induce unconventional universality classes of the surface critical behavior.

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  • Received 30 November 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.087201

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Long Zhang1 and Fa Wang1,2

  • 1International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • 2Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 8 — 24 February 2017

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