Disorder physics in mixtures of fermionic atoms

Abstract

A mixture of light and heavy fermionic atoms in an optical lattice is considered. Tunneling of the heavy atoms is neglected such that they are only subject to thermal fluctuations. There is a complex interplay between light and heavy atoms which results in an Ising-like distribution of heavy atoms with a first-order transition from homogeneous to staggered order. A second-order transition is possible between an ordered and a disordered phase of heavy atoms. Depending on the phase of heavy atoms, light atoms are scattered around and can propagate, diffuse, and localize. Due to correlations in the disordered phase of heavy atoms, there can be a gap in the spectrum of light atoms, leading to a Mottlike incompressible state.