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

TL;DR

This paper explores how rotational Goldstone modes emerge in superconducting quantum nematics in 2+1D, revealing a deconfinement transition where the mode's stiffness is tied to a dual dislocation condensate.

Contribution

It generalizes 2D defect-mediated melting theory to 2+1D quantum systems, demonstrating the deconfinement of rotational modes at the solid-nematic transition.

Findings

Rotational Goldstone modes appear at the quantum phase transition.

The mode's stiffness is derived from the dual dislocation condensate.

The transition is characterized as a deconfinement phenomenon.

Abstract

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.