Confinement in the q-state Potts model: an RG-TCSA study

In the ferromagnetic phase of the q-state Potts model, switching on an external magnetic field induces confinement of the domain wall excitations. For the Ising model (q = 2) the spectrum consists of kink-antikink states which are the analogues of mesonic states in QCD, while for q = 3, depending on the sign of the field, the spectrum may also contain three-kink bound states which are the analogues of the baryons. In recent years the resulting "hadron" spectrum was described using several different approaches, such as quantum mechanics in the confining linear potential, WKB methods and also the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Here we compare the available predictions to numerical results from renormalization group improved truncated conformal space approach (RG-TCSA). While mesonic states in the Ising model have already been considered in a different truncated Hamiltonian approach, this is the first time that a precision numerical study is performed for the 3-state Potts model. We find that the semiclassical approach provides a very accurate description for the mesonic spectrum in all the parameter regime for weak magnetic field, while the low-energy expansion from the Bethe-Salpeter equation is only valid for very weak fields where it gives a slight improvement over the semiclassical results. In addition, we confirm the validity of the recent predictions for the baryon spectrum obtained from solving the quantum mechanical three-body problem.Comment: 22 pages, pdflatex source with pdf figures. Version 2: references added, introduction change

Excited state TBA and renormalized TCSA in the scaling Potts model

We consider the field theory describing the scaling limit of the Potts quantum spin chain using a combination of two approaches. The first is the renormalized truncated conformal space approach (TCSA), while the second one is a new thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz (TBA) system for the excited state spectrum in finite volume. For the TCSA we investigate and clarify several aspects of the renormalization procedure and counter term construction. The TBA system is first verified by comparing its ultraviolet limit to conformal field theory and the infrared limit to exact S-matrix predictions. We then show that the TBA and the renormalized TCSA match each other to a very high precision for a large range of the volume parameter, providing both a further verification of the TBA system and a demonstration of the efficiency of the TCSA renormalization procedure. We also discuss the lessons learned from our results concerning recent developments regarding the low-energy scattering of quasi-particles in the quantum Potts spin chain.Comment: 39 pages, 5 eps figures. v2: reference added. v3: several misprints corrected, and an important step in the derivation of counter terms (in section 3.4.1) is explained in more detai

Breather boundary form factors in sine-Gordon theory

A previously conjectured set of exact form factors of boundary exponential operators in the sinh-Gordon model is tested against numerical results from boundary truncated conformal space approach in boundary sine-Gordon theory, related by analytic continuation to sinh-Gordon model. We find that the numerical data strongly support the validity of the form factors themselves: however, we also report a discrepancy in the case of diagonal matrix elements, which remains unresolved for the time being. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Relaxation and entropy generation after quenching quantum spin chains

This work considers entropy generation and relaxation in quantum quenches in the Ising and 3-state Potts spin chains. In the absence of explicit symmetry breaking we find universal ratios involving R\ue9nyi entropy growth rates and magnetisation relaxation for small quenches. We also demonstrate that the magnetisation relaxation rate provides an observable signature for the "dynamical Gibbs effect" which is a recently discovered characteristic non-monotonous behaviour of entropy growth linked to changes in the quasi-particle spectrum

Bound States of Majorana Fermions in Semi-classical Approximation

We derive a semi-classical formula for computing the spectrum of bound states made of Majorana fermions in a generic non-integrable 2d quantum field theory with a set of degenerate vacua. We illustrate the application of the formula in a series of cases, including an asymmetric well potential where the spectra of bosons and fermions may have some curious features. We also discuss the merging of fermionic and bosonic spectra in the presence of supersymmetry. Finally, we use the semi-classical formula to analyse the evolution of the particle spectra in a class of non-integrable supersymmetry models