Confinement-deconfinement interplay in quantum phases of doped Mott insulators

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex interplay of confinement and deconfinement phenomena in doped Mott insulators, revealing a novel Bose-insulating phase and non-Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson quantum phase transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a new phase diagram for doped Mott insulators based on the phase string effect and Wilson loop order parameters, highlighting duality and novel phase transitions.

Findings

Identification of a Bose-insulating phase with deconfined holons and spinons

Duality between antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases

Proposal of non-Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson quantum phase transitions

Abstract

It is generally accepted that doped Mott insulators can be well characterized by the t-J model. In the t-J model, the electron fractionalization is dictated by the phase string effect. We found that in the underdoped regime, the antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases are dual: in the former, holons are confined while spinons are deconfined, and {\it vice versa} in the latter. These two phases are separated by a novel phase, the so-called Bose-insulating phase, where both holons and spinons are deconfined. A pair of Wilson loops was found to constitute a complete set of order parameters determining this zero-temperature phase diagram. The quantum phase transitions between these phases are suggested to be of non-Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson type.