Monopole operators and their symmetries in QED3-Gross-Neveu models

TL;DR

This paper studies monopole operators in QED3-Gross-Neveu models, revealing their scaling dimensions and symmetry hierarchy at quantum critical points relevant to quantum magnets and phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides the first calculation of monopole operator scaling dimensions in QED3-Gross-Neveu models using large-N expansion and state-operator correspondence.

Findings

Monopole operators' scaling dimensions are computed at the QCP.

Hierarchy of monopole operators characterized at the SU(2) x SU(N) symmetric QCP.

Results inform understanding of quantum phase transitions in quantum magnets.

Abstract

Monopole operators are topological disorder operators in 2+1 dimensional compact gauge field theories appearing notably in quantum magnets with fractionalized excitations. For example, their proliferation in a spin-1/2 kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet triggers a quantum phase transition from a Dirac spin liquid phase to an antiferromagnet. The quantum critical point (QCP) for this transition is described by a conformal field theory: Compact quantum electrodynamics (QED3) with a fermionic self-interaction, a type of QED3-Gross-Neveu model. We obtain the scaling dimensions of monopole operators at the QCP using a state-operator correspondence and a large-N expansion, where 2N is the number of fermion flavors. We characterize the hierarchy of monopole operators at this SU(2) x SU(N) symmetric QCP.