No Arabic abstract
We study, using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, the ground state properties of spin-1 bosons trapped in a square optical lattice. The phase diagram is characterized by the mobility of the particles (Mott insulating or superfluid phase) and by their magnetic properties. For ferromagnetic on-site interactions, the whole phase diagram is ferromagnetic and the Mott insulators-superfluid phase transitions are second order. For antiferromagnetic on-site interactions, spin nematic order is found in the odd Mott lobes and in the superfluid phase. Furthermore, the superfluid-insulator phase transition is first or second order depending on whether the density in the Mott is even or odd. Inside the even Mott lobes, we observe a singlet-to-nematic transition for certain values of the interactions. This transition appears to be first order.
We study a two-species bosonic Hubbard model on a two-dimensional square lattice by means of quantum Monte Carlo simulations and focus on finite temperature effects. We show in two different cases, ferro- and antiferromagnetic spin-spin interactions, that the phase diagram is composed of solid Mott phases, liquid phases and superfluid phases. In the antiferromagnetic case, the superfluid (SF) is polarized while the Mott insulator (MI) and normal Bose liquid (NBL) phases are not. On the other hand, in the ferromagnetic case, none of the phases is polarized. The superfluid-liquid transition is of the Berezinsky-Kosterlitz-Thouless type whereas the solid-liquid passage is a crossover.
Mott insulators with both spin and orbital degeneracy are pertinent to a large number of transition metal oxides. The intertwined spin and orbital fluctuations can lead to rather exotic phases such as quantum spin-orbital liquids. Here we consider two-component (spin 1/2) fermionic atoms with strong repulsive interactions on the $p$-band of the optical square lattice. We derive the spin-orbital exchange for quarter filling of the $p$-band when the density fluctuations are suppressed, and show it frustrates the development of long range spin order. Exact diagonalization indicates a spin-disordered ground state with ferro-orbital order. The system dynamically decouples into individual Heisenberg spin chains, each realizing a Luttinger liquid accessible at higher temperatures compared to atoms confined to the $s$-band.
The expansion dynamics of bosonic gases in optical lattices has recently been the focus of increasing attention, both experimental and theoretical. We consider, by means of numerical Bethe ansatz, the expansion dynamics of initially confined wave packets of two interacting bosons on a lattice. We show that a correspondence between the asymptotic expansion velocities and the projection of the evolved wave function over the bound states of the system exists, clarifying the existing picture for such situations. Moreover, we investigate the role of the lattice in this kind of evolution.
We analyze topological properties of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with a quasiperiodic superlattice potential. This system can be realized in interacting ultracold bosons in optical lattice in the presence of an incommensurate superlattice potential. We first analyze the quasiperiodic superlattice made by the cosine function, which we call Harper-like Bose-Hubbard model. We compute the Chern number and observe a gap-closing behavior as the interaction strength $U$ is changed. Also, we discuss the bulk-edge correspondence in our system. Furthermore, we explore the phase diagram as a function of $U$ and a continuous deformation parameter $beta$ between the Harper-like model and another important quasiperiodic lattice, the Fibonacci model. We numerically confirm that the incommensurate charge density wave (ICDW) phase is topologically non-trivial and it is topologically equivalent in the whole ICDW region.
One of the most important issues in disordered systems is the interplay of the disorder and repulsive interactions. Several recent experimental advances on this topic have been made with ultracold atoms, in particular the observation of Anderson localization, and the realization of the disordered Bose-Hubbard model. There are however still questions as to how to differentiate the complex insulating phases resulting from this interplay, and how to measure the size of the superfluid fragments that these phases entail. It has been suggested that the correlation function of such a system can give new insights, but so far little experimental investigation has been performed. Here, we show the first experimental analysis of the correlation function for a weakly interacting, bosonic system in a quasiperiodic lattice. We observe an increase in the correlation length as well as a change in shape of the correlation function in the delocalization crossover from Anderson glass to coherent, extended state. In between, the experiment indicates the formation of progressively larger coherent fragments, consistent with a fragmented BEC, or Bose glass.