Exotic criticality of single-component fermions coupled to Ising gauge fields in two dimensions

The investigation of novel types of quantum criticality is a cornerstone of contemporary condensed matter theory. In this work, we study two-dimensional single-component fermions at half-filling, which are minimally coupled to dynamical Ising gauge fields. Using iDMRG simulations on an infinite cylinder, we unveil a robust quantum critical line, where gauge confinement and dimerized translation symmetry breaking coincide. For sufficiently strong density-density interactions, the transition splits, nucleating an intermediate deconfined dimerized phase. We propose a low-energy effective field theory of the transition with a critical deconfined $u(1)$ gauge field, occurring along the exotic quantum critical line.