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arXiv:0808.2882 · Physical Review A

Tunneling properties of a bound pair of Fermi atoms in an optical lattice

Yoji Ohashi

Published Dec 22, 2008• 7 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the tunneling properties of a bound pair of Fermi atoms in an optical lattice, comparing with results obtained in an attractive Hubbard model. In the strong-coupling regime of the Hubbard model, it has been predicted that the motion of a bound pair between lattice sites is accompanied by virtual dissociation. To explore the possibility of this interesting phenomenon in an optical lattice, we calculate the molecular wave function in a cosine-shaped periodic potential. We show that the molecular tunneling accompanied by dissociation occurs in the intermediate-coupling regime of the optical-lattice system. In the strong-coupling regime, in contrast to the prediction in the Hubbard model, the bound pair is shown to tunnel through the lattice potential without dissociation. As a result, the magnitude of the molecular band mass $M$ remains finite even in the strong-coupling limit, which is in contrast to the diverging molecular mass in the case of the Hubbard model. Including this finite value of the molecular band mass, we evaluate the superfluid phase transition temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ in the Bose-Einstein-condensate limit of the optical-lattice system, where the Hubbard model gives ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}=0$ due to the diverging molecular mass.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.063617

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We investigate the tunneling properties of a bound pair of Fermi atoms in an optical lattice, comparing with results obtained in an attractive Hubbard model. In the strong-coupling regime of the Hubbard model, it has been predicted that the motion of a bound pair between lattice sites is accompanied by virtual dissociation. To explore the possibility of this interesting phenomenon in an optical lattice, we calculate the molecular wave function in a cosine-shaped periodic potential. We show that the molecular tunneling accompanied by dissociation occurs in the intermediate-coupling regime of the optical-lattice system. In the strong-coupling regime, in contrast to the prediction in the Hubbard model, the bound pair is shown to tunnel through the lattice potential without dissociation. As a result, the magnitude of the molecular band mass MMM remains finite even in the strong-coupling limit, which is in contrast to the diverging molecular mass in the case of the Hubbard model. Including this finite value of the molecular band mass, we evaluate the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc{T}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​ in the Bose-Einstein-condensate limit of the optical-lattice system, where the Hubbard model gives Tc=0{T}_{\mathrm{c}}=0Tc​=0 due to the diverging molecular mass.
We investigate tunneling properties of a bound pair of Fermi atoms in an optical lattice. Including a realistic cosine-shape optical lattice potential, we calculate the molecular wavefunction ψ. Starting from the weak-coupling regime, we show how ψ shrinks as one increases the strength of a pairing interaction between atoms. When the molecular size becomes comparable to the lattice constant in the intermediate coupling regime, we find from the spatial structure of ψ that the molecular tunneling between lattice sites is accompanied by virtual dissociation. This phenomenon is shown to be suppressed in the strong-coupling regime due to very strong binding energy. We point out that, while the molecular tunneling accompanied by virtual dissociation can be described by the Hubbard model, it cannot describe the molecular tunneling with no virtual dissociation in the strong-coupling regime.
We consider the photodissociation of ground-state bosonic molecules trapped in an optical lattice potential into a two-component gas of fermionic atoms. The system is assumed to be described by a single-band resonantly coupled Bose-Fermi Hubbard model. We show that in the strong fermion-fermion interaction limit the dissociation dynamics is governed by a spin-boson lattice Hamiltonian. In the framework of a mean-field analysis based on a generalized Gutzwiller ansatz, we then examine the crossover of the dissociation from a regime of independent single-site dynamics to a regime of cooperative dynamics as the molecular tunneling increases. We also show that in the limits of weak and strong intersite tunneling the mean-field solutions agree well with the results from the quantum optical Jaynes-Cummings and Tavis-Cummings models, respectively. Finally, we identify two types of self-trapping transitions, a coherent and an incoherent one, depending on the ratio of the repulsive molecule-molecule interaction strength to molecular tunneling.
In this paper we address the behavior of the superfluid transition temperature Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ in the attractive Hubbard model. The attractive Hubbard model can be regarded as the generalization of the BCS to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover to a lattice and, as such, may have implications for future optical lattice studies. Nevertheless, the BEC limit of the Hubbard model is very different from that of the better-studied Fermi gases, owing to the strong intersite repulsion between pairs. Here we address systematically the effects of pairing fluctuations for all filling fractions over the entire range of attractive interaction strength. A central conclusion of our work is that in a lattice, around half filling, the smooth evolution from the BCS to the BEC limits is interrupted: Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ vanishes when the system approaches the bosonic regime with increasing interaction strength. We suggest that this interruption of crossover may signal a quantum critical transition to another form of superfluid not continuously connected to a BCS-like phase. A simple variational ansatz for an alternate ground state in this more strongly coupled superfluid is presented. A generalization of the (sss-wave) Hubbard model to ddd-wave pairing allows us to address issues of relevance to high-Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ superconductivity. The phase diagram (representing the pairing or pseudogap onset temperature T∗{T}^{*}T∗ and Tc{T}_{c}Tc​) shows that here too one observes a vanishing of Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ when T∗{T}^{*}T∗ becomes sufficiently large. Given this predicted breakdown of the crossover, and given the striking similarity to features of the cuprate phase diagram, we suggest that future experiments on ultracold fermions in optical lattices should not be exclusively limited to the repulsive Hubbard model, but should address the attractive model in order to elucidate features of high-temperature superconductivity.
Abstract The equilibrium thermodynamics of bosons and fermions in optical lattices are considered in the single-band Hubbard regime, with an emphasis on interesting magnetic, superfluid, and spin liquid ground states. The parameters of the Hubbard model—the tunneling and interaction parameters—can be obtained quantitatively in terms of the strength and periodicity of the optical lattice potential, tuned by the laser intensity and wavelength. This direct link between the parameters of a theoretical model and the actual experimental optical lattice gives rise to the phase diagram of the Bose–Hubbard model. The definition of the order parameter as an expectation value of the annihilation operator in a coherent state is discussed. This phase-coherent superfluid state is contrasted with the phase-incoherent Mott state naturally defined in terms of number states. Following the repulsive Bose–Hubbard model, the phase diagram of the Fermi–Hubbard model is considered with both attractive and repulsive interactions.
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.
We study the thermodynamics of a two-species Feshbach-resonant atomic Fermi gas in a periodic potential, focusing in a deep optical potential where a tight binding model is applicable. We show that for a more than half-filled band the gas exhibits a reentrant crossover with decreased detuning (increased attractive interaction), from a paired BCS superfluid to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of molecules of holes, back to the BCS superfluid, and finally to a conventional BEC of diatomic molecules. This behavior is associated with the nonmonotonic dependence of the chemical potential on detuning and the concomitant Cooper-pair or molecular size, larger in the BCS and smaller in the BEC regimes. For a single filled band we find a quantum phase transition from a band insulator to a BCS-BEC superfluid, and map out the corresponding phase diagram.