Deconfining the rotational Goldstone mode: the superconducting nematic liquid crystal in 2+1D

The Goldstone theorem states that there should be a massless mode for each spontaneously broken symmetry generator. There is no such rotational mode in crystals, however superconducting quantum nematics should carry rotational Goldstone modes. By generalization of thermal 2D defect mediated melting theory into a 2+1D quantum duality, the emergence of the rotational mode at the quantum phase transition from the solid to the nematic arises as a deconfinement phenomenon, with the unusual property that the stiffness of the rotational mode originates entirely in the dual dislocation condensate.Comment: 5 page

Charged and neutral fixed points in the O ( N ) ⊕ O ( N ) model with Abelian gauge fields

In the Abelian-Higgs model, or Ginzburg-Landau model of superconductivity, the existence of an infrared stable charged fixed point ensures that there is a parameter range where the superconducting phase transition is second order, as opposed to fluctuation-induced first order as one would infer from the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. We study the charged and neutral fixed points of a two-field generalization of the Abelian-Higgs model, where two N-component fields are coupled to two gauge fields and to each other, using the functional renormalization group. Focusing mostly on three dimensions, in the neutral case, this is a model for two-component Bose-Einstein condensation, and we confirm the fixed-point structure established in earlier works using different methods. The charged model is a dual theory of two-dimensional dislocation-mediated quantum melting. We find the existence of three charged fixed points for all N>2, while there are additional fixed points for N=2.Comment: RevTeX. 14 pages, 4 figures. Matches published versio

Crystal gravity

We address a subject that could have been analyzed century ago: how does the universe of general relativity look like when it would have been filled with solid matter? Solids break spontaneously the translations and rotations of space itself. Only rather recently it was realized in various context that the order parameter of the solid has a relation to Einsteins dynamical space time which is similar to the role of a Higgs field in a Yang-Mills gauge theory. Such a "crystal gravity" is therefore like the Higgs phase of gravity. The usual Higgs phases are characterized by a special phenomenology. A case in point is superconductivity exhibiting phenomena like the Type II phase, characterized by the emergence of an Abrikosov lattice of quantized magnetic fluxes absorbing the external magnetic field. What to expect in the gravitational setting? The theory of elasticity is the universal effective field theory associated with the breaking of space translations and rotations having a similar status as the phase action describing a neutral superfluid. A geometrical formulation appeared in its long history, similar in structure to general relativity, which greatly facilitates the marriage of both theories. With as main limitation that we focus entirely on stationary circumstances -- the dynamical theory is greatly complicated by the lack of Lorentz invariance -- we will present a first exploration of a remarkably rich and often simple physics of "Higgsed gravity".Comment: 64 pages, 22 figures. The introduction has been revised compared to the first versio

Type-II Bose-Mott insulators

The Mott insulating state formed from bosons is ubiquitous in solid He-4, cold atom systems, Josephson junction networks and perhaps underdoped high-Tc superconductors. We predict that close to the quantum phase transition to the superconducting state the Mott insulator is not at all as featureless as is commonly believed. In three dimensions there is a phase transition to a low temperature state where, under influence of an external current, a superconducting state consisting of a regular array of 'wires' that each carry a quantized flux of supercurrent is realized. This prediction of the "type-II Mott insulator" follows from a field theoretical weak-strong duality, showing that this 'current lattice' is the dual of the famous Abrikosov lattice of magnetic fluxes in normal superconductors. We argue that this can be exploited to investigate experimentally whether preformed Cooper pairs exist in high-Tc superconductors.Comment: RevTeX, 17 pages, 6 figures, published versio

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in two dimensions

We present a self-contained review of the theory of dislocation-mediated quantum melting at zero temperature in two spatial dimensions. The theory describes the liquid-crystalline phases with spatial symmetries in between a quantum crystalline solid and an isotropic superfluid: quantum nematics and smectics. It is based on an Abelian-Higgs-type duality mapping of phonons onto gauge bosons ("stress photons"), which encode for the capacity of the crystal to propagate stresses. Dislocations and disclinations, the topological defects of the crystal, are sources for the gauge fields and the melting of the crystal can be understood as the proliferation (condensation) of these defects, giving rise to the Anderson-Higgs mechanism on the dual side. For the liquid crystal phases, the shear sector of the gauge bosons becomes massive signaling that shear rigidity is lost. Resting on symmetry principles, we derive the phenomenological imaginary time actions of quantum nematics and smectics and analyze the full spectrum of collective modes. The quantum nematic is a superfluid having a true rotational Goldstone mode due to rotational symmetry breaking, and the origin of this 'deconfined' mode is traced back to the crystalline phase. The two-dimensional quantum smectic turns out to be a dizzyingly anisotropic phase with the collective modes interpolating between the solid and nematic in a non-trivial way. We also consider electrically charged bosonic crystals and liquid crystals, and carefully analyze the electromagnetic response of the quantum liquid crystal phases. In particular, the quantum nematic is a real superconductor and shows the Meissner effect. Their special properties inherited from spatial symmetry breaking show up mostly at finite momentum, and should be accessible by momentum-sensitive spectroscopy.Comment: Review article, 137 pages, 32 figures. Accepted versio

An Introduction to Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Perhaps the most important aspect of symmetry in physics is the idea that a state does not need to have the same symmetries as the theory that describes it. This phenomenon is known as spontaneous symmetry breaking. In these lecture notes, starting from a careful definition of symmetry in physics, we introduce symmetry breaking and its consequences. Emphasis is placed on the physics of singular limits, showing the reality of symmetry breaking even in small-sized systems. Topics covered include Nambu-Goldstone modes, quantum corrections, phase transitions, topological defects and gauge fields. We provide many examples from both high energy and condensed matter physics. These notes are suitable for graduate students.Comment: 149 pages; matches published versio