Continuous quantum phase transition in the fermionic mass solutions of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

Abstract

Recently quantum simulators have been constructed to investigate experimentally the most prominent theoretical four-point many-body system described by the Hubbard model. By varying the coupling strength of the four-point interaction in relation to the kinetic term, one can analyze the phase structure of the model. This intriguing fact leads us to investigate whether similar Hamiltonians with four-point interactions can also be studied as a function of their four-point coupling strength. In this paper, we reexamine the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, regarding it generally beyond the context of quantum chromodynamics. Essentially, it is a model in which particle-antiparticle pairing leads to a BCS-like condensate, with the result that chiral symmetry is broken dynamically in the strong-coupling regime. To study the behavior of the system, it is necessary to move from this regime to a hypothetical regime of weak coupling, altering the coupling strength of the interaction arbitrarily. In order to do this, the gap equation must be regarded as complex and its Riemann surface structure must be known. We do this and obtain a continuous quantum phase transition characterized by the development of a complex order parameter (the dynamically generated mass) from the second sheet of the Riemann surface, as we move into the weak-coupling regime. The power-law behavior of the order parameter in the vicinity of the phase transition point is demonstrated to be independent of the choice of the regularization scheme with the critical exponent as $\beta \approx 0.55$. At the same time, the isovector pseudoscalar modes retain their feature as Goldstone modes and still have zero mass, while the isoscalar scalar meson follows the behavior of the order parameter and gains a width. Energetically, this mode is not favored over the normal, uncondensed mode but would have to be accessed through an excitation process.