Supersolid Phase Research Articles

Chiral Supersolid in Spin-Orbit-Coupled Bose Gases with Soft-Core Long-Range Interactions

Chirality represents a kind of symmetry breaking characterized by the noncoincidence of an object with its mirror image and has been attracting intense attention in a broad range of scientific areas. The recent realization of spin-orbit coupling in ultracold atomic gases provides a new perspective to study quantum states with chirality. In this Letter, we demonstrate that the combined effects of spin-orbit coupling and interatomic soft-core long-range interaction can induce an exotic supersolid phase in which the chiral symmetry is broken with spontaneous emergence of circulating particle current. This implies that a finite angular momentum can be generated with neither rotation nor effective magnetic field. The direction of the angular momentum can be altered by adjusting the strength of spin-orbit coupling or interatomic interaction. The predicted chiral supersolid phase can be experimentally observed in Rydberg-dressed Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling.

Quantum Monte Carlo study of the long-range site-diluted XXZ model as realized by polar molecules

Motivated by recent experiments with ultracold polar molecules trapped in deep optical lattices, we study ground-state properties of the long-ranged XXZ model with and without off-diagonal disorder. We map the spin model to a hard-core Bose-Hubbard model and perform large-scale Monte Carlo simulations by the Worm algorithm. In absence of disorder, we find that, for large enough interaction, three phases are stabilized: a superfluid phase, a checkerboard solid phase, only present at density n = 0.5, and a checkerboard supersolid phase which can be reached by doping the CB phase away from half-filling. In the presence of off-diagonal disorder and at fixed density n=0.5, we find that, unlike what observed in the case of short-range hopping, localization never occurs even for site dilution larger than the percolation threshold, and off-diagonal order, though strongly suppressed, persists for arbitrarily large values of site-dilution.

Kinetic frustration induced supersolid in the S=12 kagome lattice antiferromagnet in a magnetic field

We examine instabilities of the plateau phases in the spin-1/2 kagome-lattice antiferromagnet in an applied field by means of degenerate perturbation theory, and find some emergent supersolid phases below the $m=5/9$ plateau. The wave functions of the plateau phases in a magnetic field have the particular construction based on the building blocks of resonating hexagons and their surrounding sites. Magnon excitations on each of these blocks suffer from a kinetic frustration effect, namely, they cannot hop easily to the others since the hopping amplitudes through the two paths destructively cancel out with each other. The itineracy is thus weakened, and the system is driven toward the strong coupling regime, which together with the selected paths allowed in real space bears a supersolid phase. This mechanism is contrary to that proposed in lattice-Bose gases, where the strong competing interactions suppress with each other, allowing a small kinetic energy scale to attain the itinerancy. Eventually, we find a supersolid state in which the pattern of resonating hexagons are preserved from the plateau crystal state and only one-third of the originally polarized spins outside the hexagons dominantly join the superfluid component, or equivalently, participate in the magnetization process.

Extended Bose-Hubbard model with dipolar and contact interactions

We study the phase diagram of the one-dimensional boson gas trapped inside an optical lattice with contact and dipolar interaction taking into account next-nearest terms for both tunneling and interaction. Using the density matrix renormalization group, we calculate how the locations of phase transitions change with increasing dipolar interaction strength for average density $\rho = 1$. Furthermore, we show an emergence of pair-correlated phases for a large dipolar interaction strength and $\rho \geq 2$, including a supersolid phase with an incommensurate density wave ordering manifesting the corresponding spontaneous breaking of the translational symmetry.

Bose-Einstein condensation and/or modulation of "displacements" in the two-state Bose-Hubbard model

Instabilities resulting in Bose-Einstein condensation and/or modulation of "displacements" in a system of quantum particles described by a two-state Bose-Hubbard model (with an allowance for the interaction between particle displacements on different lattice sites) are investigated. A possibility of modulation, which doubles the lattice constant, as well as the uniform displacement of particles from equilibrium positions are studied. Conditions for realization of the mentioned instabilities and phase transitions into the SF phase and into the "ordered" phase with frozen displacements are analyzed. The behaviour of order parameters is investigated and phase diagrams of the system are calculated both analytically (ground state) and numerically (at non-zero temperatures). It is revealed that the SF phase can appear as an intermediate one between the normal and "ordered" phases, while a supersolid phase is thermodynamically unstable and does not appear. The relation of the obtained results to the lattices with the double-well local potentials is discussed.

Spin supersolid phase in coupled alternating spin chains

We study the ground state phase diagram of a two dimensional mixed-spin system of coupled alternating spin-1 and 1/2 chains with a stripe supersolid phase. Utilizing different analytical and numerical approaches such as mean field approximation, cluster mean field theory and linear spin wave theory, we demonstrate that our system displays a rich ground state phase diagram including novel stripe supersolid, solids with different fillings and super-counterfluid phases, in addition to a stripe solid with half filling, superfluid and Mott insulating phases. In order to find a minimal mixed-spin model for stripe supersolidity, in the second part of the paper we consider two kinds of mixed-spin system of coupled alternating spin-1 and 1/2 chains with (i) anisotropic nearest neighbor interactions, (ii) anisotropic hoppings and study their ground state phase diagrams. We demonstrate that, for the systems with uniform hoppings, the repulsive intra-chains interactions are necessary for stripe supersolidity. In this case the minimal two dimensional mixed-spin model is a system of spin-1 and spin-1/2 XXZ chains, interacting via Ising Hamiltonian. In the case of anisotropic hoppings, a system of coupled Ising chains is the minimal model.

Fracton-Elasticity Duality.

Motivated by recent studies of fractons, we demonstrate that elasticity theory of a two-dimensional quantum crystal is dual to a fracton tensor gauge theory, providing a concrete manifestation of the fracton phenomenon in an ordinary solid. The topological defects of elasticity theory map onto charges of the tensor gauge theory, with disclinations and dislocations corresponding to fractons and dipoles, respectively. The transverse and longitudinal phonons of crystals map onto the two gapless gauge modes of the gauge theory. The restricted dynamics of fractons matches with constraints on the mobility of lattice defects. The duality leads to numerous predictions for phases and phase transitions of the fracton system, such as the existence of gauge theory counterparts to the (commensurate) crystal, supersolid, hexatic, and isotropic fluid phases of elasticity theory. Extensions of this duality to generalized elasticity theories provide a route to the discovery of new fracton models. As a further consequence, the duality implies that fracton phases are relevant to the study of interacting topological crystalline insulators.

Searching for Supersolidity in Ultracold Atomic Bose Condensates with Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupling.

We developed a functional integral formulation for the stripe phase of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The excitation spectrum is found to exhibit double gapless band structures, identified to be two Goldstone modes resulting from spontaneously broken internal gauge symmetry and translational invariance symmetry. The sound velocities display anisotropic behavior with the lower branch vanishing in the direction perpendicular to the stripe in the x-y plane. At the transition point between the plane-wave phase and the stripe phase, physical quantities such as fluctuation correction to the ground-state energy and quantum depletion of the condensates exhibit discontinuity, characteristic of the first-order phase transition. Despite strong quantum fluctuations induced by Rashba spin-orbit coupling, we show that the supersolid phase is stable against quantum depletion. Finally, we extend our formulation to finite temperatures to account for interactions between excitations.

Driven-Dissipative Supersolid in a Ring Cavity.

Supersolids are characterized by the counterintuitive coexistence of superfluid and crystalline order. Here we study a supersolid phase emerging in the steady state of a driven-dissipative system. We consider a transversely pumped Bose-Einstein condensate trapped along the axis of a ring cavity and coherently coupled to a pair of degenerate counterpropagating cavity modes. Above a threshold pump strength the interference of photons scattered into the two cavity modes results in an emergent superradiant lattice, which spontaneously breaks the continuous translational symmetry towards a periodic atomic pattern. The crystalline steady state inherits the superfluidity of the Bose-Einstein condensate, thus exhibiting genuine properties of a supersolid. A gapless collective Goldstone mode correspondingly appears in the superradiant phase, which can be nondestructively monitored via the relative phase of the two cavity modes on the cavity output. Despite cavity-photon losses the Goldstone mode remains undamped, indicating the robustness of the supersolid phase.

Analytical approach to quantum phase transitions of ultracold Bose gases in bipartite optical lattices using the generalized Green’s function method

In order to investigate the quantum phase transitions and the time-of-flight absorption pictures analytically in a systematic way for ultracold Bose gases in bipartite optical lattices, we present a generalized Green’s function method. Utilizing this method, we study the quantum phase transitions of ultracold Bose gases in two types of bipartite optical lattices, i.e., a hexagonal lattice with normal Bose–Hubbard interaction and a d-dimensional hypercubic optical lattice with extended Bose–Hubbard interaction. Furthermore, the time-of-flight absorption pictures of ultracold Bose gases in these two types of lattices are also calculated analytically. In hexagonal lattice, the time-of-flight interference patterns of ultracold Bose gases obtained by our analytical method are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental results of Soltan-Panahi, et al. [Nat. Phys. 7, 434 (2011)]. In square optical lattice, the emergence of peaks at $$\left( { \pm \frac{\pi }{a}, \pm \frac{\pi }{a}} \right)$$ in the time-of-flight absorption pictures, which is believed to be a sort of evidence of the existence of a supersolid phase, is clearly seen when the system enters the compressible phase from charge-density-wave phase.

THE PHYSICS OF SPIN-1/2 XY MODEL WITH FOUR-SITE EXCHANGE INTERACTION ON THE KAGOME LATTICE

The quantum spin liquid (QSL) state, proposed more than three decades ago by Fazekas and Anderson remains surprisingly elusive. Although recent experiments provide a strong evidence of their existence in the frustrated spin systems, the microscopic model for this state is still rare. The extensive theoretical framework, developed over decades, continues to extend further motivated by these and other discoveries from large-scale computer simulations of a relatively small number of models. In this work, we discuss the physics of the ground-state phase diagram of a two-dimensional Kagome lattice spin-1/2 XY model with a four-site ring-exchange interaction using quantum Monte Carlo simulation. We found the second order phase transition from superfluid state to a Z2 quantum spin liquid phase driven by the four-site ring exchange interaction. We have characterized the QSL by its vanishing order parameters such as the spin-spin structure factor, the plaquette-plaquette structure factor. Moreover, we have found the large anomalous exponent ηXY* ≈ 1.325 which belongs to a different universality class other than 3D XY universality class. There is no signal of supersolid phase intervening between the superfluid state and QSL state.

Supersolidity of lattice bosons immersed in strongly correlated Rydberg dressed atoms

Recent experiments have illustrated that long range two-body interactions can be induced by laser coupling atoms to highly excited Rydberg states. Stimulated by this achievement, we study supersolidity of lattice bosons in an experimentally relevant situation. In our setup, we consider two-component atoms on a square lattice, where one species is weakly dressed to an electronically high-lying (Rydberg) state, generating a tunable, soft-core shape long-range interaction. Interactions between atoms of the second species and between the two species are characterized by local inter- and intra-species interactions. Using a dynamical mean-field calculation, we find that interspecies onsite interactions can stabilize a pronounced region of supersolid phases. This is characterized by two distinctive types of supersolids, where the bare species forms supersolid phases that are immersed in strongly correlated quantum phases, i.e. a crystalline solid or supersolid of the dressed atoms. We show that the interspecies interaction leads to a roton-like instability in the bare species and therefore is crucially important to the supersolid formation. We provide a detailed calculation of the interaction potential to show how our results can be explored under current experimental conditions.

Superfluid-Quasicrystal in a Bose-Einstein Condensate.

A quasicrystal is a class of ordered structures defying conventional classification of solid crystals and may carry classically forbidden (e.g., fivefold) rotational symmetries. In view of long-sought supersolids, a natural question is whether a superfluid can spontaneously form quasicrystalline order that is not possessed by the underlying Hamiltonian, forming "superfluid-quasicrystals." Here we show that a superfluid-quasicrystal stripe state with the minimal fivefold rotational symmetry can be realized as the ground state of a Bose-Einstein condensate within a practical experimental scheme. There exists a rich phase diagram consisting of various superfluid-quasicrystal, supersolid, and plane-wave phases. Our scheme can be generalized for generating other higher-order (e.g., sevenfold) quasicrystal states, and provides a platform for investigating such new exotic quantum matter.

Theoretical exploration of competing phases of lattice Bose gases in a cavity

We consider bosonic atoms loaded into optical lattices with cavity-mediated infinite-range interactions. Competing short- and global-range interactions cultivates a rich phase diagram. With a systematic field-theoretical perspective, we present an $\emph{analytical}$ construction of global ground-state phase diagram. We find that the infinite-range interaction enhances the fluctuation of the number density. In the strong coupling regime, we find four branches of elementary excitations with two being "partilce-like" and two being "hole-like", and that the excitation gap becomes soft at the phase boundary between compressible phases and incompressible phases. We derive an effective theory describing compressible superfluid and supersolid states. To complement this perturbative study, we construct a self-consistent mean-field theory and find numerical results consistent with our theoretical analysis. We map out the phase diagram and find that a charge density wave may undergo a structure phase transition to a different charge density wave before it finally enters into the supersolid phase driven by increasing the hopping amplitude.

Supersolidity of undercoordinated and hydrating water.

Supersolidity of ice, which was proposed in 2013 and intensively verified since then [C. Q. Sun et al., Density, Elasticity, and Stability Anomalies of Water Molecules with Fewer than Four Neighbors, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2013, 4, 2565-2570; C. Q. Sun et al., Density and phonon-stiffness anomalies of water and ice in the full temperature range, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2013, 4, 3238-3244], refers to the water molecules being polarized by molecular undercoordination, which is associated with the skin of bulk ice, nanobubbles, and nanodroplets (often called confinement), or by the electrostatic field of ions in salt solutions [X. Zhang et al., Mediating relaxation and polarization of hydrogen-bonds in water by NaCl salting and heating, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16(45), 24666-24671; C. Q. Sun et al., (H, Li)Br and LiOH solvation bonding dynamics: molecular nonbond interactions and solute extraordinary capabilities, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2018, 122(3), 1228-1238]. From the perspective of hydrogen bond (O:H-O or HB with ":" representing the lone pairs on O2-) cooperative relaxation and polarization, this review features the recent progress and recommends future trends in understanding the bond-electron-phonon correlation in the supersolid phase. Supersolidity is characterized by a shorter and stiffer H-O bond, longer and softer O:H nonbond, deeper O 1s energy band, and longer photoelectron and phonon lifetimes. The supersolid phase is less dense, viscoelastic, and mechanically and thermally more stable. Furthermore, O:H-O bond cooperative relaxation offsets the boundaries of structural phases and increases the melting point while lowering the freezing temperature of ice, which is known as supercooling and superheating.

Spin‐1 Bose Hubbard Model with Nearest Neighbour Extended Interaction

AbstractA spinor () Bose gas is studied in presence of a density‐density interaction through a mean field approach and a perturbation theory for either sign of the spin dependent interaction, namely the antiferromagnetic (AF) and the ferromagnetic cases. In the AF case, the charge density wave (CDW) phase appears to be sandwiched between the Mott insulating (MI) and the supersolid phases for small values of the extended interaction strength. But the CDW phase completely occupies the MI lobe when the extended interaction strength is larger than a certain critical value related to the width of the MI lobes and hence opens up the possibilities of spin singlet and nematic CDW insulating phases. In the ferromagnetic case, the phase diagram shows similar features as that of the AF case and are in complete agreement with a spin‐0 Bose gas. The perturbation expansion calculations nicely corroborate the mean field phase results in both these cases. Further, we extend our calculations in presence of a harmonic confinement and obtained the momentum distribution profile that is related to the absorption spectra in order to distinguish between different phases.

Disordered Supersolids in the Extended Bose-Hubbard Model

The extended Bose-Hubbard model captures the essential properties of a wide variety of physical systems including ultracold atoms and molecules in optical lattices, Josephson junction arrays, and certain narrow band superconductors. It exhibits a rich phase diagram including a supersolid phase where a lattice solid coexists with a superfluid. We use quantum Monte Carlo to study the supersolid part of the phase diagram of the extended Bose-Hubbard model on the simple cubic lattice. We add disorder to the extended Bose-Hubbard model and find that the maximum critical temperature for the supersolid phase tends to be suppressed by disorder. But we also find a narrow parameter window in which the supersolid critical temperature is enhanced by disorder. Our results show that supersolids survive a moderate amount of spatial disorder and thermal fluctuations in the simple cubic lattice.

Ground-state phases of a rotating spin-orbit–coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice

We study the ground-state phases of a two-dimensional rotating spin-orbit–coupled Bose-Einstein condensate loaded in a one-dimensional spin-dependent optical lattice. In the absence of rotation, the system undergoes a phase transition from the stripe phase to the supersolid phase gradually for weak spin-orbit coupling strength and directly for strong spin-orbit coupling strength as the depth of the optical lattice increases. With increasing the rotation strength, the stripe phase transforms to the ringlike state, and the domain number of the ringlike state increases when the Bose-Einstein condensate is in the weak depth of the optical lattice. The supersolid phase transforms to the phase with a single domain of a vortex line for small rotation strength, and alternating vortex lines along the x-direction appear for large rotation strength when the Bose-Einstein condensate is in the strong depth of the optical lattice. The spin textures of the ground-state phases are also discussed.

Two supersolid phases in hard-core extended Bose–Hubbard model

The effect of the next-nearest-neighbor (nnn) tunneling on the hard-core extended Bose–Hubbard model on square lattices is investigated. By means of the cluster mean-field theory, the ground-state phase diagrams are determined. When a modest nnn tunneling is introduced, depending on its sign, two distinct supersolid (SS) states with checkerboard crystal structures are found away from half-filing. The characters of various phase transitions out of these two SS states are discussed. In particular, for the case with kinetic frustration, the existence of a half SS phase possessing both solid and unconventional superfluid orders is established. Our work hence sheds light on the search of this interesting SS phase in real ultracold lattice gases with frustrated tunnelings.

Inhomogeneous hard-core bosonic mixture with checkerboard supersolid phase: Quantum and thermal phase diagram

We introduce an inhomogeneous bosonic mixture composed of two kinds of hard-core and semi-hard-core bosons with different nilpotency conditions and demonstrate that in contrast with the standard hard-core Bose-Hubbard model, our bosonic mixture with nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor interactions on a square lattice develops the checkerboard supersolid phase characterized by the simultaneous superfluid and checkerboard solid orders. Our bosonic mixture is created from a two-orbital Bose-Hubbard model including two kinds of bosons: a single-orbital boson and a two-orbital boson. By mapping the bosonic mixture to an anisotropic inhomogeneous spin model in the presence of a magnetic field, we study the ground-state phase diagram of the model by means of cluster mean field theory and linear spin-wave theory and show that various phases such as solid, superfluid, supersolid, and Mott insulator appear in the phase diagram of the mixture. Competition between the interactions and magnetic field causes the mixture to undergo different kinds of first- and second-order phase transitions. By studying the behavior of the spin-wave excitations, we find the reasons of all first- and second-order phase transitions. We also obtain the temperature phase diagram of the system using cluster mean field theory. We show that the checkerboard supersolid phase persists at finite temperature comparable with the interaction energies of bosons.