No Arabic abstract
Among the various numerical techniques to study the physics of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems, the self-energy functional approach (SFA) has become increasingly important. In its previous form, however, SFA is not applicable to Bose-Einstein condensation or superfluidity. In this paper we show how to overcome this shortcoming. To this end we identify an appropriate quantity, which we term $D$, that represents the correlation correction of the condensate order parameter, as it does the self-energy for the Greens function. An appropriate functional is derived, which is stationary at the exact physical realizations of $D$ and of the self-energy. Its derivation is based on a functional-integral representation of the grand potential followed by an appropriate sequence of Legendre transformations. The approach is not perturbative and therefore applicable to a wide range of models with local interactions. We show that the variational cluster approach based on the extended self-energy functional is equivalent to the pseudoparticle approach introduced in Phys. Rev. B, 83, 134507 (2011). We present results for the superfluid density in the two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model, which show a remarkable agreement with those of Quantum-Monte-Carlo calculations.
We show that the dynamics of cold bosonic atoms in a two-dimensional square optical lattice produced by a bichromatic light-shift potential is described by a Bose-Hubbard model with an additional effective staggered magnetic field. In addition to the known uniform superfluid and Mott insulating phases, the zero-temperature phase diagram exhibits a novel kind of finite-momentum superfluid phase, characterized by a quantized staggered rotational flux. An extension for fermionic atoms leads to an anisotropic Dirac spectrum, which is relevant to graphene and high-$T_c$ superconductors.
Using exact diagonalization for a small system of cold bosonic atoms, we analyze the emergence of strongly correlated states in the presence of an artificial magnetic field. This gauge field is generated by a laser beam that couples two internal atomic states, and it is related to Berrys geometrical phase that emerges when an atom follows adiabatically one of the two eigenstates of the atom--laser coupling. Our approach allows us to go beyond the adiabatic approximation, and to characterize the generalized Laughlin wave functions that appear in the strong magnetic field limit.
Discontinuous quantum phase transitions and the associated metastability play central roles in diverse areas of physics ranging from ferromagnetism to false vacuum decay in the early universe. Using strongly-interacting ultracold atoms in an optical lattice, we realize a driven many-body system whose quantum phase transition can be tuned from continuous to discontinuous. Resonant shaking of a one-dimensional optical lattice hybridizes the lowest two Bloch bands, driving a novel transition from a Mott insulator to a $pi$-superfluid, i.e., a superfluid state with staggered phase order. For weak shaking amplitudes, this transition is discontinuous (first-order) and the system can remain frozen in a metastable state, whereas for strong shaking, it undergoes a continuous transition toward a $pi$-superfluid. Our observations of this metastability and hysteresis are in good quantitative agreement with numerical simulations and pave the way for exploring the crucial role of quantum fluctuations in discontinuous transitions.
Using the discrete Gross-Pitaevskii equation on a three-dimensional cubic lattice, we numerically investigate energy quench dynamics in the vicinity of the continuous U(1) ordering transition. The post-quench relaxation is accompanied by a transient order revival: during non-equilibrium stages, the order parameter temporarily exceeds its vanishing equilibrium pre-quench value. The revival is associated with slowly relaxing population of lattice sites aggregating large portions of the potential energy. To observe the revival, no preliminary fine-tuning of the model parameters is necessary. Our findings suggest that the order revival may be a robust feature of a broad class of models. This premise is consistent with the experimental observations of the revival in dissimilar classes of condensed matter systems.
The dc Josephson effect provides a powerful phase-sensitive tool for investigating superfluid order parameters. We report on the observation of dc Josephson supercurrents in strongly interacting fermionic superfluids across a tunnelling barrier in the absence of any applied potential difference. For sufficiently strong barriers, we observe a sinusoidal current-phase relation, in agreement with Josephsons seminal prediction. We map out the zero-resistance state and its breakdown as a function of junction parameters, extracting the Josephson critical current behaviour. By comparing our results with an analytic model, we determine the pair condensate fraction throughout the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer - Bose-Einstein Condensation crossover. Our work suggests that coherent Josephson transport may be used to pin down superfluid order parameters in diverse atomic systems, even in the presence of strong correlations.