Asymptotic freedom, lost: Complex conformal field theory in the two-dimensional $O(N>2)$ nonlinear sigma model and its realization in Heisenberg spin chains

Abstract

The two-dimensional $O(N)$ nonlinear sigma model (NLSM) is asymptotically free for $N>2$: it exhibits neither a nontrivial fixed point nor spontaneous symmetry-breaking. Here we show that a nontrivial fixed point generically does exist in the complex coupling plane and is described by a complex conformal field theory (CCFT). This CCFT fixed point is generic in the sense that it has a single relevant singlet operator, and is thus expected to arise in any non-Hermitian model with $O(N)$ symmetry upon tuning a single complex parameter. We confirm this prediction numerically by locating the CCFT at $N = 3$ in two non-Hermitian spin-1 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains, and in a non-Hermitian spin-$1/2$ ladder, finding good agreement between the complex central charge and scaling dimensions and those obtained by analytic continuation of real fixed points from $N\leq 2$. We further construct a realistic Lindbladian for a spin-1 chain whose no-click dynamics are governed by the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian realizing the CCFT. Since the CCFT vacuum is the eigenstate with the smallest decay rate, the system naturally relaxes under dissipative dynamics toward a CFT state, thus providing a route to preparing long-range entangled states through engineered dissipation.