  In this chapter we discuss aspects of the quantum critical behavior that
occurs at a quantum phase transition separating a topological phase from a
conventionally ordered one. We concentrate on a family of quantum lattice
models, namely certain deformations of the toric code model, that exhibit
continuous quantum phase transitions. One such deformation leads to a
Lorentz-invariant transition in the 3D Ising universality class. An alternative
deformation gives rise to a so-called conformal quantum critical point where
equal-time correlations become conformally invariant and can be related to
those of the 2D Ising model. We study the behavior of several physical
observables, such as non-local operators and entanglement entropies, that can
be used to characterize these quantum phase transitions. Finally, we briefly
consider the role of thermal fluctuations and related phase transitions, before
closing with a short overview of field theoretical descriptions of these
quantum critical points.
