Spectroscopic evidences for the spontaneous symmetry breaking at the $SO(5)$ deconfined critical point of $J$-$Q_3$ model

TL;DR

This study uses large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the dynamical spectra at the $SO(5)$ deconfined critical point of the $J$-$Q_3$ model, providing direct evidence for spontaneous symmetry breaking and a weakly first-order transition.

Contribution

It offers the first direct evidence from physical observables supporting the $SO(5)$ symmetry enhancement and spontaneous symmetry breaking at the deconfined critical point of the $J$-$Q_3$ model.

Findings

Observation of four gapless transverse modes at the transition.

Spectral evidence supporting weakly first-order transition.

Contrast with $J_1$-$J_2$ model showing three gapless modes.

Abstract

Recent numerical and theoretical studies on the two-dimensional $J$-$Q_3$ model suggests that the deconfined quantum critical point is actually a $SO(5)$-symmetry-enhanced first-order phase transition that is spontaneously broken to $O(4)$. However, this conclusion has mainly relied on finite-size scaling of the entanglement entropy, lacking direct evidence from physical observables.} Here, we investigate the dynamical spectra of spin and bond operators at the deconfined critical point of the $J$-$Q_3$ model using large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, and contrasting them with the well-established $\mathrm{O(3)}$ Wilson-Fisher criticality in the $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model. Although both models exhibit two gapless magnon modes in the N\'eel phase, their critical behaviors diverge strikingly. At the $J_1$-$J_2$ critical point, the Higgs mode becomes gapless, yielding three gapless modes that reflect the full restoration of the $\mathrm{O(3)}$ symmetry. {In the $J$-$Q_3$ model, we instead observe four gapless transverse modes at the either side of the transition. This spectral feature, together with the entanglement entropy results, provides direct evidence for the weakly first-order scenario that the deconfined quantum critical point exhibits an emergent $\mathrm{SO(5)}$ symmetry that spontaneously breaks to $\mathrm{O(4)}$.