2006/09/30 by S. Kragset, Steinar Kragset, E. Smorgrav +6 · 1 citation
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Antiferromagnetism #Condensed matter physics #Context (archaeology) #Mathematics #Monte Carlo method #Mott insulator #Phase (matter) #Phase transition #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum Monte Carlo #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum critical point #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Quantum phase transition #Quantum phases #Statistical physics #Theoretical physics #cond-mat.str-el #hep-lat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.97.247201
published as Phys Rev Lett, 97, 247201 (2006) · 4 pages, 4 figures. Stylistic changes, references added
openalex publication_date 2006/12/11 · arxiv created 2006/12/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Quantum phase transitions in Mott insulators do not fit easily into the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. A recently proposed alternative to it is the so-called deconfined quantum criticality scenario, providing a new paradigm for quantum phase transitions. In this context it has recently been proposed that a second-order phase transition would occur in a two-dimensional spin 1/2 quantum antiferromagnet in the deep easy-plane limit. A check of this conjecture is important for understanding the phase structure of Mott insulators. To this end we have performed large-scale Monte Carlo simulations on an effective gauge theory for this system, including a Berry-phase term that projects out the S=1/2 sector. The result is a first-order phase transition, thus contradicting the conjecture.