Deconfined metallic quantum criticality: A $U(2)$ gauge-theoretic approach

Abstract

We discuss a new class of quantum phase transitions -- Deconfined Mott Transition (DMT) -- that describe a continuous transition between a Fermi liquid metal with a generic electronic Fermi surface and an electrical insulator without Fermi surfaces of emergent neutral excitations. We construct a unified $U(2)$ gauge theory to describe a variety of metallic and insulating phases, which include Fermi liquids, fractionalized Fermi liquids (FL*), conventional insulators and quantum spin liquids, as well as the quantum phase transitions between them. Using the DMT as a basic building block, we propose a distinct quantum phase transition -- Deconfined Metal-Metal Transition (DM${}^2$T) -- that describes a continuous transition between two metallic phases, accompanied by a jump in the size of their electronic Fermi surfaces (also dubbed a 'Fermi transition'). We study these new classes of deconfined metallic quantum critical points using a renormalization group framework at the leading nontrivial order in a controlled expansion, and comment on the various interesting scenarios that can emerge going beyond this leading order calculation. We also study a $U(1)\times U(1)$ gauge theory that shares a number of similarities with the $U(2)$ gauge theory and sheds important light on many phenomena related to DMT, DM${}^2$T and quantum spin liquids.

16 pages + references + appendices