Partial dynamical symmetry at critical points of quantum phase transitions

We show that partial dynamical symmetries can occur at critical points of quantum phase transitions, in which case underlying competing symmetries are conserved exactly by a subset of states, and mix strongly in other states. Several types of partial dynamical symmetries are demonstrated with the example of critical-point Hamiltonians for first- and second-order transitions in the framework of the interacting boson model, whose dynamical symmetries correspond to different shape phases in nuclei.