Competing Orders and Unconventional Criticality in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Model

Understand

The phase diagram of the one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model of spinless fermions coupled to quantum phonons is determined by quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

• It differs significantly from previous work.
• In addition to Luttinger liquid and bond-order-wave (BOW) phases, we find an extended charge-density-wave (CDW) phase.
• Because of different broken symmetries, BOW and CDW phases are connected by a retardation-driven phase transition.