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  • Open Access

Exponential U(1) Symmetry-Breaking Phase as a Disorder-Free Quantum Glass

Yu-Min Hu1, Zhaoyu Han2,*, and Biao Lian3,†

  • *Contact author: zhan@fas.harvard.edu
  • †Contact author: biao@princeton.edu
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 096002 – Published 27 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ryb5-8ntp

Abstract

We study the phase diagram of a one-dimensional spin quantum breakdown model, which has an exponential U(1) symmetry with charge unit decaying as 2−j with site position j. By exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group, we show that the model with spin S≥2 exhibits an exponential U(1) spontaneous symmetry-breaking (SSB) phase dubbed a quantum breakdown condensate. It exhibits a bulk gap violating the Goldstone theorem and an edge mode only on the left edge if in open boundary condition. In a length L lattice, the condensate has O(2L) number of SSB ground states originating from the O(2L) number of exponential U(1) charge sectors, leading to a finite entropy density ln2. This enforces a first-order SSB phase transition into this phase, as observed numerically and verified in the large S limit on an exactly solvable Rokhsar-Kivelson line. The condensate has an SSB order parameter being the local in-plane spin, which points in angles related by the chaotic Bernoulli (dyadic) map and thus is effectively random. Moreover, we show the condensate exhibits nondecaying local autocorrelations and does not have an off-diagonal long-range order. The quantum breakdown condensate thus behaves as a disorder-free quantum glass and is beyond the existing classifications of phases of matter.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 096002– Published 27 August, 2026
  • Received 4 January 2026
  • Revised 25 May 2026
  • Accepted 23 July 2026
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