Quantum phase transitions in superconducting arrays with general capacitance matrices

Abstract

We investigate quantum phase transitions in two-dimensional superconducting arrays with general capacitance matrices and discrete charge states. We use the perturbation theory together with the simulated annealing method to obtain the zero-temperature phase diagrams, which display various lobelike structures of insulating solid phases, and examine the possibility of a supersolid phase. At nonzero temperatures, an effective classical Hamiltonian is obtained through the use of the variational method in the path-integral formalism, and the corresponding phase diagram is found approximately. The insulating lobes of the solid phases are shown to exist at sufficiently low temperatures, and results of Monte Carlo simulations are also presented.