Critical behaviours of contact near phase transitions.
Nat Commun 2014;
5:5140. [PMID:
25346226 PMCID:
PMC4220487 DOI:
10.1038/ncomms6140]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2014] [Accepted: 09/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
A central quantity of importance for ultracold atoms is contact, which measures two-body correlations at short distances in dilute systems. It appears in universal relations among thermodynamic quantities, such as large momentum tails, energy and dynamic structure factors, through the renowned Tan relations. However, a conceptual question remains open as to whether or not contact can signify phase transitions that are insensitive to short-range physics. Here we show that, near a continuous classical or quantum phase transition, contact exhibits a variety of critical behaviours, including scaling laws and critical exponents that are uniquely determined by the universality class of the phase transition, and a constant contact per particle. We also use a prototypical exactly solvable model to demonstrate these critical behaviours in one-dimensional strongly interacting fermions. Our work establishes an intrinsic connection between the universality of dilute many-body systems and universal critical phenomena near a phase transition.
Contact parameterises two-body correlations at short distances in dilute systems like ultracold atomic gases. Using a fundamental thermodynamic relation, Chen et al. study the contact near a continuous classical or quantum phase transition and find that it displays a number of critical behaviours.
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