Emergent SU(N) symmetry in disordered SO(N) spin chains

Strongly disordered spin chains invariant under the SO(N) group are shown to display random-singlet phases with emergent SU(N) symmetry without fine tuning. The phases with emergent SU(N) symmetry are of two kinds: one has a ground state formed of randomly distributed singlets of strongly bound pairs of SO(N) spins (a 'mesonic' phase), while the other has a ground state composed of singlets made out of strongly bound integer multiples of N SO(N) spins (a 'baryonic' phase). The established mechanism is general and we put forward the cases of N = 2, 3, 4 and 6 as prime candidates for experimental realizations in material compounds and cold-atoms systems. We display universal temperature scaling and critical exponents for susceptibilities distinguishing these phases and characterizing the enlarging of the microscopic symmetries at low energies.