Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2025

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Disorder Operator and Rényi Entanglement Entropy of Symmetric Mass Generation
Zi Hong Liu1, Yuan Da Liao2, Gaopei Pan2
1Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik and Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
The "symmetric mass generation" (SMG) quantum phase transition discovered in recent years has attracted great interest from both condensed matter and high energy theory communities. Here, interacting Dirac fermions acquire a gap without condensing any fermion bilinear mass term or any concomitant spontaneous symmetry breaking. It is hence beyond the conventional Gross-Neveu-Yukawa-Higgs paradigm. One important question we address in this Letter is whether the SMG transition corresponds to a true unitary conformal field theory. We employ the sharp diagnosis including the scaling of disorder operator and Rényi entanglement entropy in large-scale lattice model quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Our results strongly suggest that the SMG transition is indeed an unconventional quantum phase transition and it should correspond to a true (2+1)d unitary conformal field theory.
Related Concept Videos
Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The relation between entropy and disorder can be illustrated with the example of the phase change of ice to water. In ice, the molecules are located at specific sites giving a solid state, whereas, in a liquid form, these molecules are much freer to move. The molecular arrangement has therefore become more randomized. Although the change in average...
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Entropy Change in Reversible Processes
The statement can be further generalized to prove that entropy is a state function. Take a cyclic process between any two points on a p-V diagram.
Second Law of Thermodynamics
Symmetry in Maxwell's Equations
Standard Entropy Change for a Reaction

