Non-Periodic Ising Quantum Chains and Conformal Invariance

In a recent paper, Luck [1] investigated the critical behaviour of one-dimensional Ising quantum chains with couplings constants modulated according to general non-periodic sequences. In this short note, we take a closer look at the case where the sequences are obtained from (two-letter) substitution rules and at the consequences of Luck’s results at criticality. They imply that only for a certain class of substitution rules the long-distance behaviour is still described by the c=1/2 conformal field theory of a free Majorana fermion as for the periodic Ising quantum chain, whereas the general case does not lead to a conformally invariant scaling limit.