Phase separation and stripes in a boson version of a doped quantum antiferromagnet

Abstract

A theoretical investigation of boson versions of the $t\ensuremath{-}J$ and $t\ensuremath{-}{J}_{z}$ models on the square lattice is carried out, by means of Green's function Monte Carlo simulations. Accurate ground-state energy estimates as a function of hole doping are obtained, allowing one to investigate the stability of the uniform phase against separation of the system into hole-rich and hole-free phases. In the boson $t\ensuremath{-}{J}_{z}$ model, such a separation is found to occur for arbitrarily small values of ${J}_{z},$ at sufficiently low hole doping. Phase separation is suppressed in the boson $t\ensuremath{-}J$ model, which features a uniform ground state at any doping, for $J/t\ensuremath{\lesssim}1.5.$ Relevance of this study to the corresponding fermion models is discussed. Fermi statistics enhances the tendency toward phase separation; in particular, phase separation at low doping is predicted in the fermion $t\ensuremath{-}{J}_{z}$ model at any ${J}_{z}>0.$ The possible formation of stripes of holes is investigated for systems featuring both periodic and cylindrical boundary conditions. No evidence of a striped ground state is found in either the $t\ensuremath{-}J$ or $t\ensuremath{-}{J}_{z}$ boson models.