Collective Symmetry and Criticality from Single-Component Fluctuations

Abstract

Symmetry plays a fundamental role in modern physics by guiding the classification of phases and the construction of effective theories of critical systems. Identifying collective symmetry remains challenging because tests based on preselected order parameters can overlook hidden components. A central goal is therefore to extract symmetry and critical information from a single accessible component. We pursue this goal using Lee--Yang zero ratios generated by a single ordering field. Unmeasured components shape the projected fluctuation distribution and hence the relative zero positions. Deep in a phase with spontaneous symmetry breaking, we show analytically that the zero ratios for an isotropic order parameter approach a parameter-free Bessel sequence fixed by the number of collective components. Near quantum criticality, fluctuations deform this distribution. The resulting ratio deviations and their finite-size coupling dependence carry additional critical information. We demonstrate these results with large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of many-body systems with conventional and enlarged continuous symmetries. This approach provides quantitative access to collective symmetry and criticality without measuring every competing order.