Quantum Phase Transitions in 2d Quantum Liquids

Abstract

Continuous quantum phase transitions have attracted much attention in this decade both from experimentalists as well as from theorists. (For reviews see Refs1-4) These transitions, taking place at the absolute zero of temperature, are dominated by quantum and not by thermal fluctuations as is the case in classical finite-temperature phase transitions. Whereas time plays no role in a classical phase transition, being an equilibrium phenomenon, it becomes important in quantum phase transitions. The dynamics is characterized by an additional critical exponent, the so-called dynamic exponent, which measures the asymmetry between the time and space dimensions. The natural language to describe these transitions is quantum field theory. In particular, the functional-integral approach, which can also be employed to describe classical phase transitions, turns out to be highly convenient.KeywordsPartition FunctionQuantum Phase TransitionEffective TheoryParticle Number DensityDynamic ExponentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.