English

Temperature-Resistant Order in 2+1 Dimensions

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-05-22 v3 Strongly Correlated Electrons

Abstract

High temperatures are typically thought to increase disorder. Here we examine this idea in Quantum Field Theory in 2+1 dimensions. For this sake we explore a novel class of tractable models, consisting of nearly-mean-field scalars interacting with critical scalars. We identify UV-complete, local, unitary models in this class and show that symmetry breaking Z2\mathbb{Z}_2 \to \emptyset occurs at any temperature in some regions of the phase diagram. This phenomenon, previously observed in models with fractional dimensions, or in the strict planar limits, or with non-local interactions, is now exhibited in a local, unitary 2+1 dimensional model with a finite number of fields.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.09459,
  title  = {Temperature-Resistant Order in 2+1 Dimensions},
  author = {Zohar Komargodski and Fedor K. Popov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.09459},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

8 pages, 1 figure, v4: minor corrections

R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:32:45.920Z