Thermodynamics in the vicinity of a relativistic quantum critical point in 2+1 dimensions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the thermodynamics near a relativistic quantum critical point in 2+1 dimensions for the O(N) model, computing a universal scaling function and analyzing different regimes using large-N and renormalization group methods.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed calculation of the universal scaling function for the pressure near the QCP in the relativistic O(N) model using nonperturbative methods.

Findings

The scaling function $\\calF_N$ is nonmonotonous for small N, with a maximum at zero argument.

Large-N approximation works well outside the quantum critical regime.

The universal ratio $T_{KT}/\rho_s(0)$ is close to $\pi/2$ near the QCP.

Abstract

We study the thermodynamics of the relativistic quantum O($N$) model in two space dimensions. In the vicinity of the zero-temperature quantum critical point (QCP), the pressure can be written in the scaling form $P(T)=P(0)+N(T^3/c^2)\calF_N(\Delta/T)$ where $c$ is the velocity of the excitations at the QCP and $\Delta$ is a characteristic zero-temperature energy scale. Using both a large-$N$ approach to leading order and the nonperturbative renormalization group, we compute the universal scaling function $\calF_N$. For small values of $N$ ($N\lesssim 10$) we find that $\calF_N(x)$ is nonmonotonous in the quantum critical regime ($|x|\lesssim 1$) with a maximum near $x=0$. The large-$N$ approach -- if properly interpreted -- is a good approximation both in the renormalized classical ($x\lesssim -1$) and quantum disordered ($x\gtrsim 1$) regimes, but fails to describe the nonmonotonous behavior of $\calF_N$ in the quantum critical regime. We discuss the renormalization-group flows in the various regimes near the QCP and make the connection with the quantum nonlinear sigma model in the renormalized classical regime. We compute the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature in the quantum O(2) model and find that in the vicinity of the QCP the universal ratio $\Tkt/\rho_s(0)$ is very close to $\pi/2$, implying that the stiffness $\rho_s(\Tkt^-)$ at the transition is only slightly reduced with respect to the zero-temperature stiffness $\rho_s(0)$. Finally, we briefly discuss the experimental determination of the universal function $\calF_2$ from the pressure of a Bose gas in an optical lattice near the superfluid--Mott-insulator transition.