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Unnecessary quantum criticality in $SU (3)$ kagome magnets
by Yunchao Zhang, Xue-Yang Song, T. Senthil
Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Yunchao Zhang |
| Submission information | |
|---|---|
| Preprint Link: | scipost_202510_00062v2 (pdf) |
| Date submitted: | Feb. 11, 2026, 6:20 p.m. |
| Submitted by: | Yunchao Zhang |
| Submitted to: | SciPost Physics |
| Ontological classification | |
|---|---|
| Academic field: | Physics |
| Specialties: |
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| Approach: | Theoretical |
Abstract
Algebraic/Dirac spin liquids (DSLs) are a class of critical quantum ground states that do not have a quasi-particle description. DSLs and related spin liquid phases often arise in strongly frustrated quantum spin systems, in which strong correlations and quantum fluctuations among constituent spins persist down to zero temperature. In this work, we analyze Mott insulating phases of $SU(3)$ fermions on a kagome lattice which may realize a DSL phase, described at low energies by $(2 + 1)d$ quantum electrodynamics (QED$_3$) with $N_f=6$ Dirac fermions. By analyzing the action of physical symmetries on the operators of the QED$_3$ theory, we conclude that the low energy DSL is a quantum critical point that can be accessed by tuning a single microscopic parameter. Aided by the emergent symmetry and anomalies of the low energy effective theory, we conjecture and present supporting arguments that the $SU(3)$ Kagome magnet DSL is an unnecessary quantum critical point, lying completely within a single phase.
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Author comments upon resubmission
List of changes
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Introduction. Paragraph 6: To realize $SU(3)$ symmetric interactions, one can use alkaline-earth-like atoms with nuclear spin $I\ge 1$, such as $^{173}$Yb$(I=5/2)$.
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Sec. II. Below Eq. $(6)$: ... as a single unit cell can realize an $SU(3)$ singlet state, $\otimes^3\mathbf{3}=\mathbf{1}\oplus\mathbf{8}^2\oplus\mathbf{10}$.
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Sec. III, B., Paragraph 1: ... and the familiar discrete Lorentz symmetry actions of time reversal $\mathcal{T}_{IR}$, partial reflection $\mathcal{R}_{IR}$, and charge conjugation $\mathcal{C}_{IR}$.
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Sec. IV, A., Eq. (39): $w_2\in H^2(M_4,\mathbb{Z}_6)=0$
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Sec. III, C., Paragraph 3: We note that the UV time reversal $\mathcal{T}$ does not act on the $SU(3)$ orbital index.