Emergent QED$_3$ at the bosonic Laughlin state to superfluid transition

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a continuous quantum phase transition from the bosonic Laughlin state to a superfluid, providing evidence for an emergent QED$_3$--Chern--Simons critical point with an enlarged symmetry, using advanced numerical methods.

Contribution

The paper offers the first microscopic evidence for a stable QED$_3$--Chern--Simons fixed point at the Laughlin to superfluid transition, revealing emergent symmetry and Dirac quasiparticles.

Findings

Single continuous Laughlin--to--superfluid transition observed

Massless Dirac quasiparticles detected at the transition

Emergent SO(3) symmetry among density modes

Abstract

Quantum phase transitions between topologically ordered and symmetry-broken phases lie beyond Landau theory. A prime example is the conjectured continuous transition from the bosonic $\nu = 1/2$ Laughlin state to a superfluid, proposed to be governed by a QED$_3$--Chern--Simons (CS) critical point whose stability remains uncertain. We study half-filled bosons in the lowest Landau level subject to a lattice potential. Infinite-cylinder DMRG reveals a single continuous Laughlin--to--superfluid transition. Adiabatic flux insertion collapses the many-body gap and exposes massless Dirac quasiparticles, while momentum-resolved correlation lengths show that three lattice-related density modes share the same critical exponent, evidencing an emergent $SO(3)$ symmetry. The joint appearance of Dirac dispersion and symmetry enlargement provides microscopic support for a stable QED$_3$--CS fixed point. Our numerical strategy also offers a blueprint for exploring Landau-forbidden transitions in fractional Chern insulators and composite Fermi liquids realised in moire and cold-atom systems.