Abstract
This paper discusses why the usual notion that quantum phase transitions can be mapped onto classical phase transitions in a higher dimension, and that this makes the former uninteresting from a fundamental theoretical point of view, is in general misleading. It is shown that quantum phase transitions are often qualitatively different from their classical counterparts due to (1) long-ranged effective interactions that are induced by soft modes, and (2) in the presence of quenched disorder, an extreme anisotropy of space-time. These points are illustrated using various magnetic phase transitions as examples.
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Belitz, D., Kirkpatrick, T.R. Why Quantum Phase Transitions Are Interesting. Journal of Low Temperature Physics 126, 1107–1121 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013867329948
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013867329948