Continuous quantum phase transition between an antiferromagnet and a valence-bond solid in two dimensions: evidence for logarithmic corrections to scaling

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 104; no. 17; p. 177201
• Main Author: Sandvik, Anders W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 30-04-2010
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.104.177201

The antiferromagnetic to valence-bond-solid phase transition in the two-dimensional J-Q model (an S=1/2 Heisenberg model with four-spin interactions) is studied using large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The results support a continuous transition of the ground state, in agreement with the theory of "deconfined" quantum criticality. There are, however, large corrections to scaling, of logarithmic or very slowly decaying power-law form, which had not been anticipated. This suggests that either the SU(N) symmetric noncompact CP;{N-1} field theory for deconfined quantum criticality has to be revised or that the theory for N=2 (as in the system studied here) differs significantly from N-->infinity (where the field theory is analytically tractable).