Exploring quantum quasicrystal patterns: A variational study

Abstract

We study the emergence of quasicrystal configurations produced purely by quantum fluctuations in the ground-state phase diagram of interacting bosonic systems. By using a variational mean-field approach, we determine the relevant features of the pair interaction potential that stabilize such quasicrystalline states in two dimensions. Unlike their classical counterpart, in which the interplay between only two wave vectors determines the resulting symmetries of the solutions, the quantum picture relates in a more complex way to the instabilities of the excitation spectrum. Moreover, the quantum quasicrystal patterns are found to emerge as the ground state with no need of moderate thermal fluctuations. The study extends to the exploration of the excitation properties and the possible existence of super-quasicrystals, i.e. supersolid-like quasicrystalline states in which the long-range non-periodic density profile coexist with a non-zero superfluid fraction. Our calculations show that, in an intermediate region between the homogeneous superfluid and the normal quasicrystal phases, these exotic states indeed exist at zero temperature. Comparison with full numerical simulations provides a solid verification of the variational approach adopted in this work.