Wess–Zumino–Witten model | EPFL Graph Search

In theoretical physics and mathematics, a Wess–Zumino–Witten (WZW) model, also called a Wess–Zumino–Novikov–Witten model, is a type of two-dimensional conformal field theory named after Julius Wess, Bruno Zumino, Sergei Novikov and Edward Witten. A WZW model is associated to a Lie group (or supergroup), and its symmetry algebra is the affine Lie algebra built from the corresponding Lie algebra (or Lie superalgebra). By extension, the name WZW model is sometimes used for any conformal field theory whose symmetry algebra is an affine Lie algebra. Action Definition For \Sigma a Riemann surface, G a Lie group, and k a (generally complex) number, let us define the G-WZW model on \Sigma at the level k. The model is a nonlinear sigma model whose action is a functional of a field \gamma:\Sigma \to G: :S_k(\gamma)= -\frac{k}{8\pi} \int_{\Sigma} d^2x, \mathcal

From SU(2)5 to SU(2)3 Wess-Zumino-Witten transitions in a frustrated spin-52 chain

Natalia Chepiga, Frédéric Mila

We investigate the properties of a frustrated spin-5/2 chain with next-nearest-neighbor two- and three-site interactions, with two questions in mind: the nature of the transition into the dimerized phase induced by the three-site interaction, and the possible presence of a critical floating phase at intermediate values of the nextnearest-neighbor interaction. We provide strong evidence that the continuous transition into the dimerized phase, which has been found to be generically in the Wess-Zumino-Witten SU(2)2S universality class up to spin S = 2, is SU(2)5 only at two isolated points of the phase diagram, and that it is SU(2)3 in between, in agreement with the presence of two relevant operators allowed by symmetry for SU(2)5, and with the conservation of the parity of the level index along the renormalization flow between SU(2)k theories with different values of k. We also find that the dimerization induced by the next-nearest-neighbor interaction is a three step process, with first a small partially dimerized phase followed by a broad critical floating phase with incommensurate correlations before the fully dimerized phase is reached. Implications for the iron oxide Bi3FeMo2O12 are briefly discussed.

AMER PHYSICAL SOC2022

Non-Wilson-Fisher kinks of O(N) numerical bootstrap: From the deconfined phase transition to a putative new family of CFTs

Ning Su

It is well established that the O(N) Wilson-Fisher (WF) CFT sits at a kink of the numerical bounds from bootstrapping four point function of O(N) vector. Moving away from the WF kinks, there indeed exists another family of kinks (dubbed non-WF kinks) on the curve of O(N) numerical bounds. Different from the O(N) WF kinks that exist for arbitary N in 2 < d < 4 dimensions, the non-WF kinks exist in arbitrary dimensions but only for a large enough N > N-c(d) in a given dimension d. In this paper we have achieved a thorough understanding for few special cases of these non-WF kinks, which already hints interesting physics. The first case is the O(4) bootstrap in 2d, where the non-WF kink turns out to be the SU(2)(1) Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) model, and all the SU(2)(k>2) WZW models saturate the numerical bound on the left side of the kink. This is a mirror version of the Z(2) bootstrap, where the 2d Ising CFT sits at a kink while all the other minimal models saturating the bound on the right. We further carry out dimensional continuation of the 2d S U(2)(1) kink towards the 3d SO(5) deconfined phase transition. We find the kink disappears at around d = 2.7 dimensions indicating the SO(5) deconfined phase transition is weakly first order. The second interesting observation is, the O(2) bootstrap bound does not show any kink in 2d (N-c = 2), but is surprisingly saturated by the 2d free boson CFT (also called Luttinger liquid) all the way on the numerical curve. The last case is the N = infinity limit, where the non-WF kink sits at (Delta(phi), Delta(T)) = (d - 1, 2d) in d dimensions. We manage to write down its analytical four point function in arbitrary dimensions, which equals to the subtraction of correlation functions of a free fermion theory and generalized free theory. An important feature of this solution is the existence of a full tower of conserved higher spin current. We speculate that a new family of CFTs will emerge at non-WF kinks for finite N, in a similar fashion as O(N) WF CFTs originating from free boson at N = infinity.

SCIPOST FOUNDATION2021

Dimerization and exotic criticality in spin-S chains

Natalia Chepiga

In this thesis we have studied the emergence of spontaneously dimerized phases in frustrated spin-S chains, with emphasis on the nature of the critical lines between the dimerized and non-dimerized phases. The main numerical method used in this thesis is the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG). The DMRG algorithm is a relatively old and well established method for the investigation of the ground-state. In this thesis, we show how to use this algorithm to calculate the excitation spectra of one-dimensional critical systems, known in the context of conformal field theory as conformal towers of states. We have demonstrated that the method works very well for two simple minimal models (the transverse-field Ising model and the three-state Potts model), and we have used it systematically to identify the universality classes and the underlying conformal field theories of various one-dimensional spin systems. It has been known for a long time that the transition to a spontaneously dimerized phase in a spin-1 chain can be either continuous, in the Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) SU(2) level 2 universality class, or first order. By combining a careful numerical investigation with a conformal field theory analysis, we were able to detect in a frustrated spin-1 chain with competing next-nearest-neighbor and three-site interactions the presence of yet another type of continuous phase transition that belongs to the Ising universality class. In contrast to the WZW SU(2) level 2 critical line, at which the singlet-triplet gap closes, the Ising transition occurs entirely in the singlet sector, while the singlet-triplet gap remains open. The use of the standard DMRG approach, along the lines mentioned above, has allowed us to provide explicit numerical evidence for the presence of a conformal tower of singlets inside the spin gap. Moreover, according to field theory, a WZW SU(2) level k critical line can turn into a first order transition due to the presence of a marginal operator in the WZW SU(2) level k model. A careful investigation of the conformal towers along the critical lines has allowed us to find the precise location of this point in both S=1 and S=3/2 chains. We have also shown that the nature of the continuous dimerization transitions is related to the topological properties of the corresponding phases, and that the phase diagrams of various frustrated spin chains can be effectively extracted by looking at the local topological order parameter - the degeneracy of the lowest state in the entanglement spectrum. When coupled with the conformal field theory of open systems, DMRG appears to be an extremely powerful tool to characterize not only the phase diagram and the ground-state correlations of quantum one-dimensional systems, but also the excitation spectrum and the conformal structure along critical lines.

EPFL2017