Atomic Gases In Optical Lattices Research Articles

Mixtures of ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices with nonzero pair or counterflow hopping

We study the critical behavior of a mixture of two species of lattice bosons described by the extended Bose–Hubbard model. Our goal is to analyze in which conditions exotic orderings like pair superfluid or counterflow superfluid could be detected. We use a numerical method based on mean field approximation to calculate the phase diagram of the system, along with particle density, and order parameter profiles in selected multicritical points. We observe that the phase diagram becomes significantly renormalized in the presence of pair flow or counterflow. Furthermore, a critical particle density emerges, which isolates a new region of the phase diagram, in which the exotic order parameter exists for any value of single-particle hopping.

Two-particle correlation functions in cluster perturbation theory: Hubbard spin susceptibilities

Cluster Perturbation Theory (CPT) is a computationally economic method commonly used to estimate the momentum and energy resolved single-particle Green's function. It has been used extensively in direct comparisons with experiments that effectively measure the single-particle Green's function, e.g., angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. However, many experimental observables are given by two-particle correlation functions. CPT can be extended to compute two-particle correlation functions by approximately solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation. We implement this method and focus on the transverse spin-susceptibility, measurable via inelastic neutron scattering or with optical probes of atomic gases in optical lattices. We benchmark the method with the one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model at half filling by comparing with known results.

Light-induced evaporative cooling of holes in the Hubbard model

An elusive goal in the field of driven quantum matter is the induction of long-range order. Here, we propose a mechanism based on light-induced evaporative cooling of holes in a correlated fermionic system. Since the entropy of a filled narrow band grows rapidly with hole doping, the isentropic transfer of holes from a doped Mott insulator to such a band results in a drop of temperature. Strongly correlated Fermi liquids and symmetry-broken states could thus be produced by dipolar excitations. Using nonequilibrium dynamical mean field theory, we show that suitably designed chirped pulses may realize this cooling effect. In particular, we demonstrate the emergence of antiferromagnetic order in a system which is initially in a weakly correlated state above the maximum Néel temperature. Our work suggests a general strategy for inducing strong correlation phenomena in periodically modulated atomic gases in optical lattices or light-driven materials.

Universality and Quantum Criticality of the One-Dimensional Spinor Bose Gas.

We investigate the universal thermodynamics of the two-component one-dimensional Bose gas with contact interactions in the vicinity of the quantum critical point separating the vacuum and the ferromagnetic liquid regime. We find that the quantum critical region belongs to the universality class of the spin-degenerate impenetrable particle gas which, surprisingly, is very different from the single-component case and identify its boundaries with the peaks of the specific heat. In addition, we show that the compressibility Wilson ratio, which quantifies the relative strength of thermal and quantum fluctuations, serves as a good discriminator of the quantum regimes near the quantum critical point. Remarkably, in the Tonks-Girardeau regime, the universal contact develops a pronounced minimum, reflected in a counterintuitive narrowing of the momentum distribution as we increase the temperature. This momentum reconstruction, also present at low and intermediate momenta, signals the transition from the ferromagnetic to the spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid phase and can be detected in current experiments with ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices.

Geometrical phase shift in Friedel oscillations

This work addresses the problem of elastic scattering on a localized impurity in a one-dimensional crystal with sublattice degrees of freedom. The impurity yields long-range interferences in the local density of states known as Friedel oscillations. Here we show that the internal degrees of freedom of Bloch waves are responsible for a geometrical phase shift in Friedel oscillations. The Fourier transform of the energy-resolved interference pattern reveals a topological property of this phase shift, which is intrinsically related to a wave-function topological property (Zak phase) in the absence of impurity. As a result, Friedel oscillations in the local density of states can be regarded as a probe of wave topological properties in a broad class of classical and quantum systems, such as acoustic and photonic crystals, ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices, and electronic compounds.

Entrainment in Superfluid Neutron-Star Crusts: Hydrodynamic Description and Microscopic Origin

In spite of the absence of viscous drag, the neutron superfluid permeating the inner crust of a neutron star cannot flow freely, and is entrained by the nuclear lattice similarly to laboratory superfluid atomic gases in optical lattices. The role of entrainment on the neutron superfluid dynamics is reviewed. For this purpose, a minimal hydrodynamical model of superfluidity in neutron-star crusts is presented. This model relies on a fully four-dimensionally covariant action principle. The equivalence of this formulation with the more traditional approach is demonstrated. In addition, the different treatments of entrainment in terms of dynamical effective masses or superfluid density are clarified. The nuclear energy density functional theory employed for the calculations of all the necessary microscopic inputs is also reviewed, focusing on superfluid properties. In particular, the microscopic origin of entrainment and the different methods to estimate its importance are discussed.

Quantum phase transitions of the Bose-Hubbard model inside a cavity

The superfluid to Mott insulator transition and the superradiant transition are textbook examples for quantum phase transition and coherent quantum optics, respectively. Recent experiments in ETH and Hamburg succeeded in loading degenerate bosonic atomic gases in optical lattices inside a cavity, which enables the first experimental study of the interplay between these two transitions. In this letter we present the theoretical phase diagram for the ETH experimental setup, and determine the phase boundaries and the orders of the phase transitions between the normal superfluid phase, the superfluid with superradiant light, the normal Mott insulator and the Mott insulator with superradiant light. We find that in contrast to the second-order superradiant transition in a weakly interacting Bose condensate, strong correlations in the superfluid nearby a Mott transition can render the superradiant transition to a first order one. Our results will stimulate further experimental studies of interactions between cavity light and strongly interacting quantum matters.

Nonlinear Phenomena of Ultracold Atomic Gases in Optical Lattices: Emergence of Novel Features in Extended States

The system of a cold atomic gas in an optical lattice is governed by two factors: nonlinearity originating from the interparticle interaction, and the periodicity of the system set by the lattice. The high level of controllability associated with such an arrangement allows for the study of the competition and interplay between these two, and gives rise to a whole range of interesting and rich nonlinear effects. This review covers the basic idea and overview of such nonlinear phenomena, especially those corresponding to extended states. This includes “swallowtail” loop structures of the energy band, Bloch states with multiple periodicity, and those in “nonlinear lattices”, i.e., systems with the nonlinear interaction term itself being a periodic function in space.

Phase diagrams of the Bose-Hubbard model and the Haldane-Bose-Hubbard model with complex hopping amplitudes

In this paper, we study Bose-Hubbard models on the square and honeycomb lattices with complex hopping amplitudes, which are feasible by recent experiments of cold atomic gases in optical lattices. To clarify phase diagrams, we use an extended quantum Monte-Carlo simulations (eQMC). For the system on the square lattice, the complex hopping is realized by an artificial magnetic field. We found that vortex-solid states form for certain set of magnetic field, i.e., the magnetic field with the flux quanta per plaquette $f=p/q$, where $p$ and $q$ are co-prime natural numbers. For the system on the honeycomb lattice, we add the next-nearest neighbor complex hopping. The model is a bosonic analog of the Haldane-Hubbard model. By means of the eQMC, we study the model with both weak and strong on-site repulsions. Numerical study shows that the model has a rich phase diagram. We also found that in the system defined on the honeycomb lattice of the cylinder geometry, an interesting edge state appears.

Frustration-induced supersolids in the absence of intersite interactions

We discuss a mechanism for the realization of supersolids in lattices in the absence of intersite interactions that surprisingly works as well at unit filling. This mechanism, that we study for the case of the sawtooth lattice, is based on the existence of frustrated and unfrustrated plaquettes. For sufficiently large interactions and frustration the particles gather preferentially at unfrustrated plaquettes breaking spontaneously translational invariance, resulting in a supersolid. We show that for the sawtooth lattice the supersolid exists for a large region of parameters for densities above half filling. Our results open a feasible path for realizing supersolids in existing ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices without the need for long-range interactions.

Formula omitted] slave-spin theory of a strongly correlated Chern insulator

We calculate the phase diagram of the topological honeycomb model in the presence of strong interactions. We concentrate on half filling and employ a Z2 slave-spin method to find a band insulator with staggered density, a spin-density-wave and a Mott insulating phase. Both the band insulator and the spin-density wave come in various topological varieties. Finally, we calculate the response function relevant for lattice modulation spectroscopy with cold atomic gases in optical lattices.

Domain-wall melting in ultracold-boson systems with hole and spin-flip defects

Quantum magnetism is a fundamental phenomenon of nature. As of late, it has garnered a lot of interest because experiments with ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices could be used as a simulator for phenomena of magnetic systems. A paradigmatic example is the time evolution of a domain-wall state of a spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain, the so-called domain-wall melting. The model can be implemented by having two species of bosonic atoms with unity filling and strong on-site repulsion U in an optical lattice. In this paper, we study the domain-wall melting in such a setup on the basis of the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (tDMRG). We are particularly interested in the effects of defects that originate from an imperfect preparation of the initial state. Typical defects are holes (empty sites) and flipped spins. We show that the dominating effects of holes on observables like the spatially resolved magnetization can be taken account of by a linear combination of spatially shifted observables from the clean case. For sufficiently large U, further effects due to holes become negligible. In contrast, the effects of spin flips are more severe as their dynamics occur on the same time scale as that of the domain-wall melting itself. It is hence advisable to avoid preparation schemes that are based on spin-flips.

Relaxation towards negative temperatures in bosonic systems: Generalized Gibbs ensembles and beyond integrability

Motivated by the recent experimental observation of negative absolute temperature states in systems of ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices [Braun et al., Science 339, 52 (2013)], we investigate theoretically the formation of these states. More specifically, we consider the relaxation after a sudden inversion of the external parabolic confining potential in the one-dimensional inhomogeneous Bose-Hubbard model. First, we focus on the integrable hard-core boson limit which allows us to treat large systems and arbitrarily long times, providing convincing numerical evidence for relaxation to a generalized Gibbs ensemble at negative temperature T<0, a notion we define in this context. Second, going beyond one dimension, we demonstrate that the emergence of negative temperature states can be understood in a dual way in terms of positive temperatures, which relies on a dynamic symmetry of the Hubbard model. We complement the study by exact diagonalization simulations at finite values of the on-site interaction.

Functional renormalization group for multi-orbital Fermi surface instabilities

Technological progress in material synthesis, as well as artificial realization of condensed matter scenarios via ultra-cold atomic gases in optical lattices or epitaxial growth of thin films, is opening the gate to investigate a plethora of unprecedented strongly correlated electron systems. In a large subclass thereof, a metallic state of layered electrons undergoes an ordering transition below some temperature into unconventional states of matter driven by electronic correlations, such as magnetism, superconductivity, or other Fermi surface instabilities. While this type of phenomena has been a well-established direction of research in condensed matter for decades, the variety of today's accessible scenarios pose fundamental new challenges to describe them. A core complication is the multi-orbital nature of the low-energy electronic structure of these systems, such as the multi-d orbital nature of electrons in iron pnictides and transition-metal oxides in general, but also electronic states of matter on lattices with multiple sites per unit cell such as the honeycomb or kagome lattice. In this review, we propagate the functional renormalization group (FRG) as a suited approach to investigate multi-orbital Fermi surface instabilities. The primary goal of the review is to describe the FRG in explicit detail and render it accessible to everyone both at a technical and intuitive level. Summarizing recent progress in the field of multi-orbital Fermi surface instabilities, we illustrate how the unbiased fashion by which the FRG treats all kinds of ordering tendencies guarantees an adequate description of electronic phase diagrams and often allows to obtain parameter trends of sufficient accuracy to make qualitative predictions for experiments. This review includes detailed and illustrative illustrations of magnetism and, in particular, superconductivity for the iron pnictides from the viewpoint of FRG. Furthermore, it discusses candidate scenarios for topological bulk singlet superconductivity and exotic particle-hole condensates on hexagonal lattices such as sodium-doped cobaltates, graphene doped to van Hove Filling, and the kagome Hubbard model. In total, the FRG promises to be one of the most versatile and revealing numerical approaches to address unconventional Fermi surface instabilities in future fields of condensed matter research.

Aspects of superfluid cold atomic gases in optical lattices

We review our studies on Bose and Fermi superfluids of cold atomic gases in optical lattices at zero temperature. Especially, we focus on superfluid Fermi gases along the crossover between the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) and the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) states, which enable us to study the Bose and the Fermi superfluids in a unified point of view. We discuss basic static and long-wavelength properties (such as the equation of state, incompressibility, and effective mass), energetic stability, and energy band structures of the superfluid Fermi gases in an optical lattice periodic along one spatial direction. The periodic potential causes pairs of atoms to be strongly bound, and this can affect the static and long-wavelength properties and the stability of the superflow. Regarding the band structure, a peculiar loop structure called “swallowtail” can appear in superfluid Fermi gases and in the Bose case, but the mechanism of emergence in the Fermi case is very different from that in bosonic case. Other quantum phases that the cold atomic gases in optical lattices can show are also briefly discussed based on their roles as quantum simulators of Hubbard models.

Ultracold quantum gases and lattice systems: quantum simulation of lattice gauge theories

Abelian and non‐Abelian gauge theories are of central importance in many areas of physics. In condensed matter physics, Abelian U(1) lattice gauge theories arise in the description of certain quantum spin liquids. In quantum information theory, Kitaev's toric code is a lattice gauge theory. In particle physics, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the non‐Abelian gauge theory of the strong interactions between quarks and gluons, is non‐perturbatively regularized on a lattice. Quantum link models extend the concept of lattice gauge theories beyond the Wilson formulation, and are well suited for both digital and analog quantum simulation using ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices. Since quantum simulators do not suffer from the notorious sign problem, they open the door to studies of the real‐time evolution of strongly coupled quantum systems, which are impossible with classical simulation methods. A plethora of interesting lattice gauge theories suggests itself for quantum simulation, which should allow us to address very challenging problems, ranging from confinement and deconfinement, or chiral symmetry breaking and its restoration at finite baryon density, to color superconductivity and the real‐time evolution of heavy‐ion collisions, first in simpler model gauge theories and ultimately in QCD.

Diagnostic for phases and quantum critical regions using deviations from the local fluctuation-dissipation theorem

Introduction Cold atomic gases in optical lattices are emerging as excellent laboratories for testing models of strongly interacting particles in condensed matter physics. Currently, one of the major open questions is how to obtain the finite temperature phase diagram of a given quantum Hamiltonian directly from experiments. Previous work in this direction required quantum Monte Carlo simulations to directly model the experimental situation in order to extract quantitative information, clearly defeating the purpose of an optical lattice emulator. Here we propose a new method that utilizes deviations from a local fluctuation dissipation theorem to construct a finite temperature phase diagram, for the first time, from local observables accessible by in situ experimental observations. Our approach extends the utility of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem from thermometry to the identification of quantum phases, associated energy scales and the quantum critical region. We test our ideas using state-of-the-art large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the two-dimensional Bose Hubbard model.

Light scattering from ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices at finite temperature

We study light scattering from atoms in optical lattices at finite temperature. We examine the light scattered by fermions in the noninteracting regime and by bosons in the superfluid and Mott insulating regimes. We extend previous theoretical studies to include the full band structure of the optical lattice. We find that light scattering that excites atoms out of the lowest band leads to an increase in light scattering away from the classical diffraction peaks and is largely temperature independent. This additional light scattering leads to lower efficiency of temperature measurements based on photon counting.

Thermodynamics of the three-dimensional Hubbard model: Implications for cooling cold atomic gases in optical lattices

We present a comprehensive study of the thermodynamic properties of the three-dimensional fermionic Hubbard model, with application to cold fermionic atoms subject to an optical lattice and a trapping potential. Our study is focused on the temperature range of current experimental interest. We employ two theoretical methods - dynamical mean-field theory and high-temperature series - and perform comparative benchmarks to delimitate their respective range of validity. Special attention is devoted to understand the implications that thermodynamic properties of this system have on cooling. Considering the distribution function of local occupancies in the inhomogeneous lattice, we show that, under adiabatic evolution, the variation of any observable (e.g., temperature) can be conveniently disentangled into two distinct contributions. The first contribution is due to the redistribution of atoms in the trap during the evolution, while the second one comes from the intrinsic change of the observable. Finally, we provide a simplified picture of the cooling procedure recently proposed in J.-S. Bernier et al., Phys. Rev. A 79, 061601 (2009) by applying this method to an idealized model.

Suppression of the critical temperature for superfluidity near the Mott transition

Ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices have proven to be a controllable, tunable and clean implementation of strongly interacting quantum many-body systems. An essential prospect for such quantum simulators is their ability to map out the phase diagram of fundamental many-body model Hamiltonians. However, the results need to be validated first for representative benchmark problems via state-of-the-art numerical methods of quantum many-body theory. Here we present the first ab-initio comparison between experiments and quantum Monte Carlo simulations for strongly interacting Bose gases on a lattice for large systems (up to N = 3e5 particles). The comparison has enabled us to perform thermometry for the interacting quantum gas and to experimentally determine the finite temperature phase diagram for bosonic superfluids in an optical lattice. Our results reveal a downshift of the critical temperature as the transition to the Mott insulator is approached.