Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points

Abstract Real-time dynamics of strongly correlated systems, in particular its critical dynamics near phase transitions, have been always on the cutting edge of studies in diverse fields of physics, e.g., high energy physics, condensed matter, holography, etc. In this work, we investigate the critica...

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Main Authors: Yang-yang Tan, Yong-rui Chen, Wei-jie Fu, Wei-Jia Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58170-1
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author Yang-yang Tan
Yong-rui Chen
Wei-jie Fu
Wei-Jia Li
author_facet Yang-yang Tan
Yong-rui Chen
Wei-jie Fu
Wei-Jia Li
author_sort Yang-yang Tan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Real-time dynamics of strongly correlated systems, in particular its critical dynamics near phase transitions, have been always on the cutting edge of studies in diverse fields of physics, e.g., high energy physics, condensed matter, holography, etc. In this work, we investigate the critical damping of collective modes associated with spontaneous breaking of approximate symmetries, which are called pseudo-Goldstone modes, in strongly correlated systems. Using the Schwinger-Keldysh field theory, we find a universal pseudo-Goldstone damping via the critical O(N) model that has never been found before by other approaches. Different from the conventional damping found in holography and hydrodynamics, the new one is controlled by critical fluctuations, hence is invisible in mean-field systems or strongly correlated systems with classical gravity duals. Since the critical damping depends solely on the universalities of the critical point, irrespective of the microscopic details, our conclusion should be applicable to a wide class of interacting systems.
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issn 2041-1723
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spelling doaj-art-6eaf81b4e87349a9af94c592b2b958772025-08-20T02:49:35ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111010.1038/s41467-025-58170-1Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical pointsYang-yang Tan0Yong-rui Chen1Wei-jie Fu2Wei-Jia Li3School of Physics, Dalian University of TechnologySchool of Physics, Dalian University of TechnologySchool of Physics, Dalian University of TechnologySchool of Physics, Dalian University of TechnologyAbstract Real-time dynamics of strongly correlated systems, in particular its critical dynamics near phase transitions, have been always on the cutting edge of studies in diverse fields of physics, e.g., high energy physics, condensed matter, holography, etc. In this work, we investigate the critical damping of collective modes associated with spontaneous breaking of approximate symmetries, which are called pseudo-Goldstone modes, in strongly correlated systems. Using the Schwinger-Keldysh field theory, we find a universal pseudo-Goldstone damping via the critical O(N) model that has never been found before by other approaches. Different from the conventional damping found in holography and hydrodynamics, the new one is controlled by critical fluctuations, hence is invisible in mean-field systems or strongly correlated systems with classical gravity duals. Since the critical damping depends solely on the universalities of the critical point, irrespective of the microscopic details, our conclusion should be applicable to a wide class of interacting systems.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58170-1
spellingShingle Yang-yang Tan
Yong-rui Chen
Wei-jie Fu
Wei-Jia Li
Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points
Nature Communications
title Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points
title_full Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points
title_fullStr Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points
title_full_unstemmed Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points
title_short Universality of pseudo-Goldstone damping near critical points
title_sort universality of pseudo goldstone damping near critical points
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58170-1
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