The Hubbard-Holstein model describes fermions on a discrete lattice, with on-site repulsion between fermions and a coupling to phonons that are localized on sites. Generally, at half-filling, increasing the coupling $g$ to the phonons drives the syst
em towards a Peierls charge density wave state whereas increasing the electron-electron interaction $U$ drives the fermions into a Mott antiferromagnet. At low $g$ and $U$, or when doped, the system is metallic. In one-dimension, using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we study the case where fermions have a long range coupling to phonons, with characteristic range $xi$, interpolating between the Holstein and Frohlich limits. Without electron-electron interaction, the fermions adopt a Peierls state when the coupling to the phonons is strong enough. This state is destabilized by a small coupling range $xi$, and leads to a collapse of the fermions, and, consequently, phase separation. Increasing interaction $U$ will drive any of these three phases (metallic, Peierls, phase separation) into a Mott insulator phase. The phase separation region is once again present in the $U e 0$ case, even for small values of the coupling range.
Ring-exchange interactions have been proposed as a possible mechanism for a Bose-liquid phase at zero temperature, a phase that is compressible with no superfluidity. Using the Stochastic Green Function algorithm (SGF), we study the effect of these i
nteractions for bosons on a two-dimensional triangular lattice. We show that the supersolid phase, that is known to exist in the ground state for a wide range of densities, is rapidly destroyed as the ring-exchange interactions are turned on. We establish the ground-state phase diagram of the system, which is characterized by the absence of the expected Bose-liquid phase.
We study, using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, the ground state properties of a one dimensional Rabi-Hubbard model. The model consists of a lattice of Rabi systems coupled by a photon hopping term between near neighbor sites. For large enough
coupling between photons and atoms, the phase diagram generally consists of only two phases: a coherent phase and a compressible incoherent one separated by a quantum phase transition (QPT). We show that, as one goes deeper in the coherent phase, the system becomes unstable exhibiting a divergence of the number of photons. The Mott phases which are present in the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model are not observed in these cases due to the presence of non-negligible counter-rotating terms. We show that these two models become equivalent only when the detuning is negative and large enough, or if the counter-rotating terms are small enough.
We review the concept of superfluidity and, based on real and thought experiments, we use the formalism of second quantization to derive expressions that allow the calculation of the superfluid density for general Hamiltonians with path-integral meth
ods. It is well known that the superfluid density can be related to the response of the free energy to a boundary phase-twist, or to the fluctuations of the winding number. However, we show that this is true only for a particular class of Hamiltonians. In order to treat other classes, we derive general expressions of the superfluid density that are valid for various Hamiltonians. While the winding number is undefined when the number of particles is not conserved, our general expressions allow us to calculate the superfluid density in all cases. We also provide expressions of the superfluid densities associated to the individual components of multi-species Hamiltonians, which remain valid when inter-species
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.
The two dimensional square lattice hard-core boson Hubbard model with near neighbor interactions has a `checkerboard charge density wave insulating phase at half-filling and sufficiently large intersite repulsion. When doped, rather than forming a su
persolid phase in which long range charge density wave correlations coexist with a condensation of superfluid defects, the system instead phase separates. However, it is known that there are other lattice geometries and interaction patterns for which such coexistence takes place. In this paper we explore the possibility that anisotropic hopping or anisotropic near neighbor repulsion might similarly stabilize the square lattice supersolid. By considering the charge density wave structure factor and superfluid density for different ratios of interaction strength and hybridization in the $hat x$ and $hat y$ directions, we conclude that phase separation still occurs.
In a recent letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 167201 (2010)] we proposed a new confining method for ultracold atoms on optical lattices, based on off-diagonal confinement (ODC). This method was shown to have distinct advantages over the conventional diag
onal confinement (DC) that makes use of a trapping potential, including the existence of pure Mott phases and highly populated condensates. In this paper we show that the ODC method can also lead to temperatures that are smaller than with the conventional DC method, depending on the control parameters. We determine these parameters using exact diagonalizations for the hard-core case, then we extend our results to the soft-core case by performing quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations for both DC and ODC systems at fixed temperatures, and analysing the corresponding entropies. We also propose a method for measuring the entropy in QMC simulations.
We propose a novel scheme for confining atoms to optical lattices by engineering a spatially-inhomogeneous hopping matrix element in the Hubbard-model (HM) description, a situation we term off-diagonal confinement (ODC). We show, via an exact numeric
al solution of the boson HM with ODC, that this scheme possesses distinct advantages over the conventional method of confining atoms using an additional trapping potential, including the presence of incompressible Mott phases at commensurate filling and a phase diagram that is similar to the uniform HM. The experimental implementation of ODC will thus allow a more faithful realization of correlated phases of interest in cold atom experiments.
The interplay between magnetism and metal-insulator transitions is fundamental to the rich physics of the single band fermion Hubbard model (FHM). Recent progress in experiments on trapped ultra-cold atoms have made possible the exploration of simila
r effects in the boson Hubbard model (BHM). This paper reports Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations of the spin-1 BHM in the ground state. In the case of antiferromagnetic interactions, which favor singlet formation within the Mott insulator lobes, we present exact numerical evidence that the superfluid-insulator phase transition is first (second) order depending on whether the Mott lobe is even (odd). In the ferromagnetic case, the transitions are all continuous. We obtain the phase diagram in the case of attractive spin interactions and demonstrate the existence of the ferromagnetic superfluid. We also compare the QMC phase diagram with a third order perturbation calculation.
In a recent publication (Phys. Rev E 77, 056705 (2008)),we have presented the stochastic Green function (SGF) algorithm, which has the properties of being general and easy to apply to any lattice Hamiltonian of the form H=V-T, where V is diagonal in
the chosen occupation number basis and T has only positive matrix elements. We propose here a modified version of the update scheme that keeps the simplicity and generality of the original SGF algorithm, and enhances significantly its efficiency.
