Contact terms and duality symmetry in the critical dissipative Hofstadter model

Abstract

The dissipative Hofstadter model describes the quantum mechanics of a charged particle in two dimensions subject to a periodic potential, uniform magnetic field, and dissipative force. Its phase diagram exhibits an SL(2, Z ) duality symmetry and has an infinite number of critical circles in the dissipation/magnetic field plane. In addition, multi-critical points on a particular critical circle correspond to non-trivial solutions of open string theory. The duality symmetry is expected to provide relations between correlation functions at different multi-critical points. Many of these correlators are contact terms. However, we expect them to have physical significance because under duality they transform into functions that are non-zero for large separations of the operators. Motivated by the search for exact, regulator independent solutions for these contact terms, in this paper we derive many properties and symmetries of the coordinate correlation functions at the special multi-critical points. In particular, we prove that the correlation functions are homogeneous, piecewise-linear functions of the momenta, and we prove a weaker version of the anticipated duality transformation. Consequently, the possible forms of the correlation functions are limited to lie in a finite dimensional linear space. We treat the potential perturbatively and these results are valid to all orders in perturbation theory.