Topological characterization of Lieb-Schultz-Mattis constraints and applications to symmetry-enriched quantum criticality

Abstract

Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorems provide powerful constraints on the emergibility problem, i.e. whether a quantum phase or phase transition can emerge in a many-body system. We derive the topological partition functions that characterize the LSM constraints in spin systems with Gs ×Gint symmetry, where Gs is an arbitrary space group in one or two spatial dimensions, and Gint is any internal symmetry whose projective representations are classified by Z2k with k an integer. We then apply these results to study the emergibility of a class of exotic quantum critical states, including the well-known deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP), U(1) Dirac spin liquid (DSL), and the recently proposed non-Lagrangian Stiefel liquid. These states can emerge as a consequence of the competition between a magnetic state and a non-magnetic state. We identify all possible realizations of these states on systems with SO(3) × Z2T internal symmetry and either p6m or p4m lattice symmetry. Many interesting examples are discovered, including a DQCP adjacent to a ferromagnet, stable DSLs on square and honeycomb lattices, and a class of quantum critical spin-quadrupolar liquids of which the most relevant spinful fluctuations carry spin-2. In particular, there is a realization of spin-quadrupolar DSL that is beyond the usual parton construction. We further use our formalism to analyze the stability of these states under symmetry-breaking perturbations, such as spin-orbit coupling. As a concrete example, we find that a DSL can be stable in a recently proposed candidate material, NaYbO2