4 papers
Does hot QCD have a conformal manifold in the chiral limit?
Shi Chen, Aleksey Cherman, Robert D. Pisarski
Recent lattice evidence suggests the chiral phase transition in QCD is second-order for massless flavors. We constrain CFT descriptions of a critical line in temperatur…
Symmetry theta angles and topological Witten effects
Shi Chen, Aleksey Cherman, Maria Neuzil
We introduce a large class of angles in quantum field theory that we call symmetry angles. Unlike conventional angles whose definition depends on a choice of a path int…
Cheshire terms, Aharonov-Bohm effects, and axions
Shi Chen, Aleksey Cherman, Gongjun Choi +1
We discuss unusual terms that can appear in field theories that allow global vortices. These `Cheshire terms' induce Aharonov-Bohm effects for some particles that move arou…
Generalized BKT Transitions and Persistent Order on the Lattice
Evan Berkowitz, Seth Buesing, Shi Chen +2
The BKT transition in low-dimensional systems with a global symmetry separates a gapless conformal phase from a trivially gapped, disordered phase, and is driven by vortex p…