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arXiv:0801.0589 · Physical Review Letters

Orbital Order in Mott Insulators of Spinless p -Band Fermions

Erhai Zhao, W. Vincent Liu

Published Apr 22, 2008• 93 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A gas of strongly interacting single-species (spinless) p-orbital fermionic atoms in 2D optical lattices is proposed and studied. Several interesting new features are found. In the Mott limit on a square lattice, the gas is found to be described effectively by an orbital exchange Hamiltonian equivalent to a pseudospin-1/2 XXZ model. For a triangular, honeycomb, or kagome lattice, the orbital exchange is geometrically frustrated and described by a new quantum 120 degrees model. We determine the orbital ordering on the kagome lattice, and show how orbital wave fluctuations select ground states via the order by disorder mechanism for the honeycomb lattice. We discuss experimental signatures of various orbital ordering.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.100.160403

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A gas of strongly interacting single-species (spinless) p-orbital fermionic atoms in 2D optical lattices is proposed and studied. Several interesting new features are found. In the Mott limit on a square lattice, the gas is found to be described effectively by an orbital exchange Hamiltonian equivalent to a pseudospin-1/2 XXZ model. For a triangular, honeycomb, or kagome lattice, the orbital exchange is geometrically frustrated and described by a new quantum 120 degrees model. We determine the orbital ordering on the kagome lattice, and show how orbital wave fluctuations select ground states via the order by disorder mechanism for the honeycomb lattice. We discuss experimental signatures of various orbital ordering.
We investigate the general structure of orbital exchange physics in Mott-insulating states of p-orbital systems in optical lattices. Orbital orders occur in both the triangular and kagome lattices. In contrast, orbital exchange in the honeycomb lattice is frustrated as described by a novel quantum 120 degrees model. Its classical ground states are mapped into configurations of the fully packed loop model with an extra U(1) rotation degree of freedom. Quantum orbital fluctuations select a six-site plaquette ground state ordering pattern in the semiclassical limit from the "order from disorder" mechanism. This effect arises from the appearance of a zero energy flat band of orbital excitations.
Mott insulators with both spin and orbital degeneracy are pertinent to a large number of transition metal oxides. The intertwined spin and orbital fluctuations can lead to rather exotic phases such as quantum spin-orbital liquids. Here, we consider two-component (spin 1/2) fermionic atoms with strong repulsive interactions on the p band of the optical square lattice. We derive the spin-orbital exchange for quarter filling of the p band when the density fluctuations are suppressed, and show that it frustrates the development of long-range spin order. Exact diagonalization indicates a spin-disordered ground state with ferro-orbital order. The system dynamically decouples into individual Heisenberg spin chains, each realizing a Luttinger liquid accessible at higher temperatures compared to atoms confined to the s band.
Orbital phases of ppp-band ultracold fermions in the frustrated triangular lattice
Orbital degrees of freedom play an important role for understanding the emergence of unconventional quantum phases. Ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices provide a wonderful platform to simulate orbital physics. In this work, we consider spinless fermionic atoms loaded into ppp-orbital bands of a two-dimensional frustrated triangular lattice. The system can be described by an extended Fermi-Hubbard model, which is numerically solved by using the orbital version of real-space dynamical mean-field theory. Low-temperature phase diagrams are obtained, which contain stripe-, ferro- and para-orbital ordered quantum phases, due to the interplay of anisotropic hoppings and geometrical frustration. In order to understand the underlying mechanics of competing orbital orders, we derive an effective orbital-exchange model, which yields consistent explanation with our main numerical results.
Orbital degrees of freedom play an important role in understanding the emergence of unconventional quantum phases. Ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices provide a wonderful platform to simulate orbital physics. In this work, we consider spinless fermionic atoms loaded into ppp-orbital bands of a two-dimensional frustrated triangular lattice. The system can be described by an extended Fermi-Hubbard model, which is numerically solved by using the orbital version of real-space dynamical mean-field theory. Due to the interplay of anisotropic hoppings and geometrical frustration, a rich phase diagram is found, including stripe-orbital, paraorbital, and ferro-orbital phases, in contrast to its bosonic analog with orbital-skyrmion ordering in the identical lattice. In order to understand the underlying mechanics of competing orbital orders, we derive an effective orbital-exchange model, which yields consistent explanation with our main numerical results.
We present a detailed study of the Bose-Hubbard model in a ppp-band triangular lattice by focusing on the evolution of orbital order across the superfluid-Mott insulator transition. Two distinct phases are found in the superfluid regime. One of these phases adiabatically connects the weak interacting limit. This phase is characterized by the intertwining of axial ${p}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}={p}_{x}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}i{p}_{y}$ and in-plane ${p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}}=cos\ensuremath{\theta}{p}_{x}+sin\ensuremath{\theta}{p}_{y}$ orbital orders, which break the time-reversal symmetry and lattice symmetries simultaneously. In addition, the calculated Bogoliubov excitation spectrum gaps the original Dirac points in the single-particle spectrum but exhibits emergent Dirac points. The other superfluid phase in close proximity to the Mott insulator with unit boson filling shows a detwined in-plane ferro-orbital order. Finally, an orbital exchange model is constructed for the Mott insulator phase. Its classical ground state has an emergent SO(2)\mathrm{S}\mathrm{O}(2)SO(2) rotational symmetry in the in-plane orbital space and therefore enjoys an infinite degeneracy, which is ultimately lifted by the orbital fluctuation via the order by disorder mechanism. Our systematic analysis suggests that the in-plane ferro-orbital order in the Mott insulator phase agrees with and likely evolves from the latter superfluid phase.
We review our recent theoretical advances in phase transition of cold atoms in optical lattices, such as triangular lattice, honeycomb lattice, and Kagomé lattice. By employing the new developed numerical methods called dynamical cluster approximation and cellular dynamical mean-field theory, the properties in different phases of cold atoms in optical lattices are studied, such as density of states, Fermi surface and double occupancy. On triangular lattice, a reentrant behavior of phase translation line between Fermi liquid state and pseudogap state is found due to the Kondo effect. We find the system undergoes a second order Mott transition from a metallic state into a Mott insulator state on honeycomb lattice and triangular Kagomé lattice. The stability of quantum spin Hall phase towards interaction on honeycomb lattice with spin-orbital coupling is systematically discussed. And we investigate the transition from quantum spin Hall insulator to normal insulator in Kagomé lattice which includes a nearest-neighbor intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and a trimerized Hamiltonian. In addition, we propose the experimental protocols to observe these phase transition of cold atoms in optical lattices.