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arXiv:1002.3044 · Physical Review A

Honeycomb optical lattices with harmonic confinement

Jens K. Block, Nicolai Gayle Nygaard

Published May 24, 2010• 16 citations
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Abstract

We consider the fate of the Dirac points in the spectrum of a honeycomb optical lattice in the presence of a harmonic confining potential. By numerically solving the tight binding model, we calculate the density of states and find that the energy dependence can be understood from analytical arguments. In addition, we show that the density of states of the harmonically trapped lattice system can be understood by application of a local density approximation based on the density of states in the homogeneous lattice. The Dirac points are found to survive locally in the trap as evidenced by the local density of states. Furthermore, they give rise to a distinct spatial profile of a noninteracting Fermi gas.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.81.053421

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Bulletin of the American Physical Society•Nov 13, 2008•0 citations
We consider the fate of the Dirac points in the spectrum of a honeycomb optical lattice in the presence of a harmonic confining potential. By numerically solving the tight binding model, we calculate the density of states and find that the energy dependence can be understood from analytical arguments. In addition, we show that the density of states of the harmonically trapped lattice system can be understood by application of a local density approximation based on the density of states in the homogeneous lattice. The Dirac points are found to survive locally in the trap as evidenced by the local density of states. Furthermore, they give rise to a distinct spatial profile of a noninteracting Fermi gas.
We present an accurate ab initio tight-binding model, capable of describing the dynamics of Dirac points in tunable honeycomb optical lattices following a recent experimental realization [Tarruell et al., Nature (London) 483, 302 (2012)]. Our scheme is based on first-principle maximally localized Wannier functions for composite bands. The tunneling coefficients are calculated for different lattice configurations, and the spectrum properties are well reproduced with high accuracy. In particular, we show which tight-binding description is needed in order to accurately reproduce the position of Dirac points and the dispersion law close to their merging, for different laser intensities.
We discuss interacting and noninteracting one dimensional atomic systems trapped in an optical lattice plus a parabolic potential. We show that, in the tight-binding approximation, the noninteracting problem is exactly solvable in terms of Mathieu functions. We use the analytic solutions to study the collective oscillations of ideal bosonic and fermionic ensembles induced by small displacements of the parabolic potential. We treat the interacting boson problem by numerical diagonalization of the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. From analysis of the dependence upon lattice depth of the low-energy excitation spectrum of the interacting system, we consider the problems of ``fermionization'' of a Bose gas, and the superfluid-Mott insulator transition. The spectrum of the noninteracting system turns out to provide a useful guide to understanding the collective oscillations of the interacting system, throughout a large and experimentally relevant parameter regime.
In this paper we derive an analytic approximation to the density of states for atoms in a combined optical lattice and harmonic trap potential as used in current experiments with quantum degenerate gases. We compare this analytic density of states to numerical solutions and demonstrate its validity regime. Our work explicitly considers the role of higher bands and when they are important in quantitative analysis of this system. Applying our density of states to a degenerate Fermi gas, we consider how adiabatic loading from a harmonic trap into the combined harmonic-lattice potential affects the degeneracy temperature. Our results suggest that occupation of excited bands during loading should lead to more favorable conditions for realizing degenerate Fermi gases in optical lattices.
According to the exact analytical Bethe-ansatz solution of the one-dimensional spin-1/2 XXZ model, we perform a numerical study of one-dimensional spinless fermions in an optical lattice in the presence of harmonic potential by using a local density approximation. We study the density profile, and obtain the -u phase diagram (here =NfV2/t is the characteristic dimensionless density and u=V/t is the interaction strength scaled in units of the hopping parameter t). With the increases of particle density and nearest-neighbour interaction, the system undergoes five different quantum phases. Through calculating the thermodynamic stiffness S, we find that it can be used as an order parameter. Its singular points can measure the quantum phase transitions in such a confined system.
We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to obtain zero-temperature state diagrams for strongly correlated lattice bosons in one and two dimensions under the influence of a harmonic confining potential. Since harmonic traps generate a coexistence of superfluid and Mott insulating domains, we use local quantities such as the quantum fluctuations of the density and a local compressibility to identify the phases present in the inhomogeneous density profiles. We emphasize the use of the ``characteristic density'' to produce a state diagram that is relevant to experimental optical lattice systems, regardless of the number of bosons or trap curvature and of the validity of the local-density approximation. We show that the critical value of U/tU/tU/t at which Mott insulating domains appear in the trap depends on the filling in the system, and it is in general greater than the value in the homogeneous system. Recent experimental results by Spielman et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 120402 (2008)] are analyzed in the context of our two-dimensional state diagram, and shown to exhibit a value for the critical point in good agreement with simulations. We also study the effects of finite, but low $(T\ensuremath{\le}t/2)$, temperatures. We find that in two dimensions they have little influence on our zero-temperature results, while their effect is more pronounced in one dimension.
We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to obtain zero-temperature state diagrams for strongly correlated lattice bosons in one and two dimensions under the influence of a harmonic confining potential. Since harmonic traps generate a coexistence of superfluid and Mott insulating domains, we use local quantities such as the quantum fluctuations of the and a local compressibility to identify the phases present in the inhomogeneous profiles. We emphasize the use of the characteristic density to produce a state diagram that is relevant to experimental optical lattice systems, regardless of the number of bosons or trap curvature and of the validity of the local-density approximation. We show that the critical value of U/t at which Mott insulating domains appear in the trap depends on the filling in the system, and it is in general greater than the value in the homogeneous system. Recent experimental results by Spielman et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 120402 (2008)] are analyzed in the context of our two-dimensional state diagram, and shown to exhibit a value for the critical point in good agreement with simulations. We also study the effects of finite, but low (T<t/2), temperatures. We find that in two dimensions they have little influence on our zero-temperature results, while their effect is more pronounced in one dimension.