Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson approach to critical phenomena in the presence of gauge symmetries

Abstract

We critically reconsider the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson (LGW) approach to critical phenomena in the presence of gauge symmetries. In the LGW framework, to obtain the universal features of a continuous transition, one identifies the order parameter Phi and considers the corresponding most general Phi4 field theory that has the same symmetries as the original model. In the presence of gauge symmetries, one usually considers a gauge-invariant order parameter and a LGW field theory that is invariant under the global symmetries of the original model. We show that this approach, in which the gauge dynamics is effectively integrated out, may sometimes lead to erroneous conclusions on the nature of the critical behavior. As an explicit example, we show that the above-described LGW approach generally fails for the three-dimensional ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic CP(N-1) models, which are invariant under global U(N) and local U(1) transformations. We point out possible implications for the finite-temperature chiral transition of nuclear matter.

arXiv comment7 pages, few changes, refs added

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Cited by in corpus (14)

• Phase Transitions in Particle Physics -- Results and Perspectives from Lattice Quantum Chromo-Dynamics
• The Chiral Phase Transition in three-flavor QCD from Lattice QCD
• Lattice Abelian-Higgs model with noncompact gauge fields
• Multicomponent compact Abelian-Higgs lattice models
• High-Temperature QCD: theory overview
• Three-dimensional ferromagnetic CP(N-1) models
• Roberge-Weiss endpoint and chiral symmetry restoration in $N_f=2+1$ QCD
• Three-dimensional lattice multiflavor scalar chromodynamics: interplay between global and gauge symmetries
• Critical behaviors of lattice U(1) gauge models and three-dimensional Abelian-Higgs gauge field theory
• Criticality of O(N) symmetric models in the presence of discrete gauge symmetries
• Bootstrapping traceless symmetric $O(N)$ scalars
• Exploring $SU(N)$ adjoint correlators in $3d$
• Three-dimensional Abelian and non-Abelian gauge Higgs theories
• Critical density of topological defects upon a continuous phase transition